I have been to many townhalls after layoffs , when compared with past experiences , @ned 's communication came off as :
Unprepared , lacking in details and not grounded in time bound goals for new scope.
SMTs also need to face a newer challange of ICO ban by SEC , that doesn't seem to have been ( even still ) part of planning by STINC.
I don't think SMTs would fall under the purview of the SEC. SMTs would not be a coin offering for sale, they would be a tradeable asset against steem. Earned and distributed via the community they were offered against.
From what I have heard it would work very similar to ico tokens on top of eth..