I am no libertarian, but this feels thoroughly unfair on a human level. EtherDelta was a noble pursuit in my book - it was useful, entrepreneurial and did not exploit anybody.
There's no doubt EtherDelta's system addressed many of the reasons traditional markets required regulation but EtherDelta is still a clear violation of the Exchange Act. All securities exchanges must be registered, most tokens are securities and EtherDelta was running an unregistered exchange selling those securities. That being said, this is a classic example of the law failing to keep pace with technology. Up until…
Let me get this straight:
Old men write words on dead trees.
Old men send men with guns to blow your brains out if you do not agree to their words.
These old men get their salary by stealing tax payer money and allowing convenience stores and gas stations to prey in the poor and all unfettered exchange of cash for lottery tickets.
But god forbid that a man wants to invest in a token startup.