In the US, whether a token is a security is decided by the deal you describe to buyers, not the label on it. The March 2026 SEC/CFTC joint interpretation puts marketing at the centre of the Howey analysis. This cluster covers the marketing-angle subset — written for the people who write the copy.
US securities law has no crypto-specific marketing rulebook the way MiCA and the FCA regime do. Instead, the constraint runs through the Howey test: marketing that builds an expectation of profit derived from the essential managerial efforts of others is the evidence that turns a token into an investment contract. The 17 March 2026 SEC/CFTC joint interpretation made this explicit — the analysis is transaction-focused, and how an issuer describes its efforts in marketing and promotion is central.
The Howey managerial-effort and profit-expectation prongs, the exact marketing language that creates a profit expectation, and how to launch a token without implying a security.
Paste any token marketing copy or URL. Verdict on the marketing-as-security risk in seconds.
A signed audit across the SEC marketing-angle, MiCA, and FCA. Five business days. From €4,950.
The EU mirror — return promises and unbalanced claims fail there too.