The CFTC chairman maintains that Bitcoin and Ether are commodities, not securities.
The power struggle between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over regulatory control of the cryptocurrency market continues to perplex investors.
In keeping with the two market regulators’ territorial battle, CFTC chairman Rostin Behnam has underlined that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are commodities, not securities.
Despite the PoS transition, Behnam believes ether is a commodity.
“I’ve said [Ether] is a commodity, and Chair Gensler believes differently,” Behnam said on Monday at a Manhattan event co-hosted by Rutgers Law, the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, and Lowenstein Sandler.
Although SEC Chair Gary Gensler considers Bitcoin to be a commodity, he does not feel the same way about other assets like as Ether and XRP.
Following the Merge, which saw Ethereum go from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), Gensler warned that the asset may be classed as a security last month.
While the SEC investigated whether Ethereum would satisfy the Howey Test, Gensler suggested that staking may be legally classified as an investment. If ETH passes the test, it must be registered as a security with the SEC. Behnam, on the other hand, is not convinced.
The CFTC Chair also refuted the widely held idea that, given the SEC’s aggressive assault on crypto companies, the CFTC would be a more friendly regulator. “Our record of enforcement speaks for itself,” he remarked.
The CFTC and the SEC Will Collaborate
The CFTC chair went on to say that, contrary to popular belief, the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act bill would not grant the agency entire authority to categorize cryptocurrencies.
Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman of the Senate Agriculture Committee submitted the draft legislation.
Behnam assured that the CFTC and SEC will continue to collaborate based on this.
“It’s a really pessimistic position to imply that two agencies can’t figure it out and work together,” he added, noting to their past record of collaboration in areas like as security futures development.
“The million-dollar question.” “How can we engage the SEC when a product is in the murky area?” he wondered.
Behnam went on to say that both authorities would have to collaborate to find a solution to legal and policy issues that would provide clarity in classifying crypto assets. He said that the measure will aid in the development of a regulatory framework and provide resources to the CFTC.
Expert in: Google Ads, SEM Expert, PPC Specialist, Paid Social, Facebook, Web Design and DeFi. I work exclusively with successful businesses that are looking to take things to the next level or ambitious startups who give themselves the means to do so. I have experience in many verticals: SaaS, finance, cryptocurrency, retail, real estate, law, IT, medical, pharmaceutical, travel and many more.