Initial coin offerings could make a comeback, this time with the blessing of federal regulators, according to comments made yesterday by SEC chair Paul Atkins.

Why it matters: The initial ICO boom in 2017-2018 is mostly remembered for broken promises and outright fraud.

• A sanctioned revival would need to be launched very carefully, even if the ultimate touch is light.

Reality check: ICOs never really left. They just moved offshore, which decreased their volume and visibility for U.S. investors.

What Atkins said: "I have asked staff to propose purpose-fit disclosures, exemptions, and safe harbors, including for so-called 'initial coin offerings,' 'airdrops,' and network rewards. Regarding these sorts of transactions, our goal should be that issuers no longer exclude Americans from their distributions to avoid legal complexity and lawsuits, but instead choose to include Americans to enjoy legal certainty and an accommodating regulatory environment."

Catch up quick: An ICO was always something of a misnomer, in that it invokes IPO parallels.

• Buyers don't receive equity in a company, but rather receive a token whose value is perceived utility. In the old days, many of those tokens were sold by unknown scamsters who either couldn't launch the pledged project, or never even intended to try.

Look ahead: No one expects Atkins to follow the lead of his predecessor, Gary Gensler, who basically argued that all tokens were securities.

• But his comments also seemed to caution against a return to the Wild West.
• The SEC most likely will offer a framework that requires meaningful disclosure while still allowing for project decentralization and participation by non-accredited investors.
• One big question will be on transfer restrictions. In the past, insiders (including VCs) were known to sell a portion of their tokens. This was akin to putting equity on the blockchain. Don't be surprised if this shell game gets addressed.

Figma shares closed their first day of trading at $115.50, up a record 250% from their IPO price. It's also up again today, despite an early market selloff.

Why it's the BFD: If someone tells you that the public markets aren't clamoring for tech IPOs, a line used by both VCs and bankers for several years, you now have permission to slap them with a wet fish.

Zoom in: This should renew conversations about the IPO "pop," particularly given that Figma broke a record set just weeks ago by Circle.

• Companies don't want to price for perfection, since a first-day increase is beneficial for both employee and investor morale. But there's a yawning chasm between a 25% and 250% jump.

The bottom line: Figma CFO Praveer Melwani seemed nonplussed by the possibility of a giant pop, when I spoke with him yesterday morning. He noted that the only around one-third of the IPO shares came from the company — with proceeds going to resolve RSU-related tax issues, rather than to bolster the balance sheet.

• Melwani likely would say the same thing publicly today, and he's correct that an IPO is just a moment in time and that most Figma backers — including himself — retain much more stock than they sold.
• Privately, though, he's got to be wondering how bankers misread the market so badly for the second time in as many months.

• OpenAI raised $8.3b at a $300b valuation, as first reported by the NY Times and confirmed by Axios.

• This is part of a previously announced $40b round that's expected to close by year-end, inclusive of the $10 billion that closed in June ($7.5b from SoftBank).
• Participants in this tranche include Dragoneer, Blackstone, TPG, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, a16z, Altimeter, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and Thrive Capital.

• Vast Data, a New York-based AI data platform company, is in talks to raise Series F funding at a $30b valuation from CapitalG and Nvidia, per Reuters. axios.link/4l5kmEA

• Fal, an SF-based AI infrastructure company, raised $125m a in Series C. Meritech led, and Salesforce Ventures, Shopify Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Kindred Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Notable Capital, First Round Capital, Unusual Ventures and Village Global. axios.link/45eEVIC

• Noma Security, an Israeli developer of AI agent security solutions, raised $100 min Series B funding. Evolution Equity Partners led, joined by insiders Ballistic Ventures and Glilot Capital. axios.link/4l6DeD9

• Oxide, an on-premise cloud server startup, raised $100m in Series B funding led by USIT. axios.link/44VeAk8

• Safe, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based cyber risk company, raised $70m in Series C funding. Avataar Ventures led, joined by SIG Venture Capital, NextEquity Partners, and Prosperity7 Ventures. safe.security

• Saphyre, a Hoboken, N.J.-based provider of finance ops and trading workflow software, raised $70m from FTV Capital. axios.link/459GzLF

• Good Job Games, a Turkish mobile games publisher, raised $60m in Series A funding. Menlo Ventures and Anthos Capital led, joined by Bessemer Venture Partners. axios.link/47aGVEp

• Augmodo, a Seattle-based retail inventory management startup, raised $37.5m. TQ Ventures led, joined by Lerer Hippeau, NewFare, WIN, Interlace, Arena Holdings, and Tony James' family office. axios.link/4fkzJaY