US regulators have already found a home for true Bitcoin perpetuals inside the CFTC’s exchange framework. The SEC is now turning to another part of the same market: how a team can pay to build a network before its token has much use.

A derivatives exchange starts with an established asset and places a new contract around it. A token project usually starts with a promise. Buyers provide the capital needed to write the code, launch the network, and make the token useful, while the founding team promises to do the work that could make their purchase more valuable. That bargain can be an investment contract under federal securities law.

The SEC’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets tries to cover that bargain from start to finish. It would…