In general, if you did it before it was illegal, then you're fine! But note that is almost certainly 100% irrelevant here, because the SEC is arguing (very pla

In general, if you did it before it was illegal, then you're fine! But note that is almost certainly 100% irrelevant here, because the SEC is arguing (very plausibly) that at least some forms of ICOs were always clearly illegal, or at any rate have been clearly illegal since at least 1946. The argument that you launched your ICO before <insert event>, so you should get a pass is unlikely to fly with anyone. Either it violates the laws or it didn't, and since the relevant laws haven't changed in decades, if it violated them, you're in trouble. (Also note that the financial industry is rife with people promoting scams and arguing they don't quite violate the law because of some technicality. This never works.)