Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler did not give a direct answer when asked whether Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, is a security or a commodity at a congressional oversight hearing on Tuesday.
See related story: CFTC chair calls Ethereum a commodity, in contrast to SEC chair Gensler’s position
Fast facts
- Gensler directly addressed the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) for the first time since October 2021, which was before the collapse of FTX and crypto-friendly banks, including Signature, Silicon Valley Bank, and Silvergate.
- Gensler did not give a clear and direct answer to Congressman Patrick McHenry, the committee chairman, who asked if Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is a security.
- “Actually, all securities are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act. It’s that we are excluded commodities. But I would agree that a security cannot be also an excluded commodity and an included commodity,” responded Gensler.
- Regulators and prosecutors have held contrasting views on how to classify Ether. The Attorney General of New York recently called it should be a security, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam argued that it is a commodity.
- Gensler hinted on multiple occasions that he may view cryptocurrencies based on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, such as Ether, as securities.
- In May 2022, Gensler publicly labeled Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as a commodity.
- Gensler told the HFSC on Tuesday that the SEC needs more resources and bodies to regulate the crypto asset class.
- Late last month, Gensler testified before the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and requested US$2.4 billion in funding from Congress for the agency to intensify its cryptocurrency crackdown.
See related story: SEC chair Gensler: No plans to ban crypto, says it’s ‘up to Congress’
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- Platoblockchain. Web3 Metaverse Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- Minting the Future w Adryenn Ashley. Access Here.
- Source: https://forkast.news/headlines/sec-gary-gensler-ethereum-security/
- :is
- 2021
- 2022
- a
- Act
- agency
- All
- and
- answer
- ARE
- AS
- asset
- asset class
- At
- attorney
- Attorney General
- Ban
- Bank
- Banks
- based
- BE
- before
- Billion
- Bitcoin
- blockchain
- Bloomberg
- by
- Calls
- cannot
- cap
- capitalization
- Chair
- chairman
- class
- Classify
- clear
- Collapse
- commission
- committee
- Commodities
- commodity
- commodity exchange
- Congress
- Congressional
- Congressman
- Consensus
- consensus mechanism
- contrast
- Crackdown
- crypto
- crypto asset
- crypto asset class
- crypto-friendly
- cryptocurrencies
- cryptocurrency
- DID
- direct
- directly
- Ether
- ethereum
- Ethereum blockchain
- ethereum is a security
- exchange
- excluded
- financial
- financial services
- First
- first time
- For
- from
- FTX
- funding
- Futures
- Futures Trading
- Gary
- Gary Gensler
- General
- Gensler
- Give
- Government
- Have
- he
- Held
- House
- How
- How To
- HTTPS
- i
- in
- included
- Including
- IT
- ITS
- jpg
- largest
- Last
- Market
- Market Cap
- Market Capitalization
- May..
- mechanism
- Month
- more
- multiple
- native
- needs
- New
- New York
- occasions
- october
- of
- on
- Oversight
- plans
- plato
- Plato Data Intelligence
- PlatoData
- Proof-of-Stake
- prosecutors
- publicly
- question
- recently
- Regulate
- related
- requested
- Resources
- Rostin Behnam
- says
- SEC
- sec chair
- second-largest
- Securities
- security
- Services
- should
- Silicon
- Silicon Valley
- silicon valley bank
- Silvergate
- since
- Story
- subcommittee
- such
- that
- The
- time
- to
- Trading
- Tuesday
- under
- Valley
- View
- views
- whether
- which
- WHO
- world’s
- would
- youtube
- zephyrnet