SEC Chair Gensler Again Says Bitcoin Is Not a Security. What About Ethereum?

Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, reaffirmed the SEC’s views today. Bitcoin Is a product, but refrains from expanding the label to other cryptocurrencies Interview with CNBC..

Gensler was chosen Bitcoin As an example of crypto assets that should be regulated under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), He did beforeHowever, I will not comment on other coins or tokens.

“Like Bitcoin, that’s it, Jim, I’m not going to talk about any of these, so I’m going to say tokenMy predecessors and others said they were merchandise, “Gensler said in response to a question from CNBC’s Jim Cramer.

However, Gensler adds that many other “crypto financial assets have important attributes of securities” and the main similarity between the two is the idea that “investors want profit”. Said.

The regulatory framework surrounding cryptocurrencies and digital assets has focused on the interpretation of what acts as a security, such as stocks, and what acts as a commodity, such as gold.The former SEC administration was with Bitcoin Ethereum Although it was a commodity, Gensler mentioned only Bitcoin in his latest comment, previously Avoided answering questions Especially about Ethereum.

Before Gensler took the lead in the SEC, the Commission’s leadership publicly adopted the position that both Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities. ICO It is considered an illegal security offer by today’s standards.

In 2018, William Hinman, Director of Corporate Finance at the SEC, said: Said He needed to classify both Ethereum and Bitcoin as commodities because each cryptocurrency was “sufficiently decentralized” and there was no central stakeholder whose efforts were “a key determinant of the company.” I believed there was.

Nevertheless, the question of whether Ethereum should be considered security today continues to be raised.The problem is It will be a particular point In SEC’s ongoing $ 1.3 billion proceedings It is an unregistered security against Ripple over the sale of the XRP company claimed by the SEC. This may help explain that Gensler is hesitant to comment on other crypto assets other than Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Regarding the issue of digital asset regulation in the United States, Gensler today said it is a dual effort, primarily between the CFTC and the SEC, but overlaps with banking regulators regarding its response to Stablecoin. I did. He further stated that many tokens are “potentially non-compliant” and “there is a lot of work to be done to really protect investors.”