Bitcoin News and Finance SEC Chair Gensler Affirms Bitcoin Is a Commodity — ‘That’s the Only One I’m Going to Say’ Skip to main content

SEC Chair Gensler Affirms Bitcoin Is a Commodity — ‘That’s the Only One I’m Going to Say’

SEC Chair Gensler Confirms Bitcoin Is a Commodity — 'That's the Only One I'm Going to Say'

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, says bitcoin is a commodity. He emphasized that the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and banking regulators will collaborate to oversee the crypto sector.

Gary Gensler: Bitcoin Is a Commodity

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler clarified his position on cryptocurrency, particularly bitcoin, in an interview with Mad Money host Jim Cramer on CNBC Monday.

“This is a highly speculative asset class. We’ve known this for a long time,” Gensler said when asked about cryptocurrency. Citing the “ups and downs of this speculative asset class,” he explained that when people invest in “bitcoin and hundreds of other crypto tokens,” they hope for a return, “just like when they invest in other financial assets” that are securities.

Chair Gensler stressed that many of these “crypto financial assets” have “the key attributes of a security.” He added: “Some of them … are under the Securities and Exchange Commission.” In contrast, citing what his “predecessors and others have said,” he described:

Some, like bitcoin, and that’s the only one I’m going to say … are commodities.

The SEC chief noted that besides BTC, he is not going to discuss other crypto tokens specifically.

Gensler’s statement agrees with the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, who said last month that bitcoin (BTC) is a commodity. However, Behnam further said ether (ETH) is also a commodity.

Bitcoin proponents welcome Gensler’s clarification. Digital assets manager Eric Weiss tweeted: “Gensler is the 2nd consecutive SEC Chair to declare that bitcoin is a commodity, making it all but impossible for this classification to be altered in the future. Very significant indeed.”

The pro-bitcoin CEO of Microstrategy, Michael Saylor, opined: “Bitcoin is a commodity, which is essential for any treasury reserve asset. This allows politicians, agencies, governments, and institutions to support bitcoin as a technology and digital asset to grow the economy and extend property rights and freedom to all.” The Nasdaq-listed software company has amassed 129,218 bitcoins for its corporate treasury.

SEC, CFTC, Banking Regulators Collaborating on Crypto

Gensler proceeded to comment on the SEC collaborating with other federal regulators to oversee the crypto sector, including the CFTC and banking regulators. He emphasized that many crypto tokens are currently trying to operate in a non-compliant way.

The SEC chief then mentioned stablecoins, noting:

There’s work to be done there around stablecoins … There’s a lot of work to be done to really protect the investing public.

Last week, Gensler proposed “one rule book” for the regulation of the crypto sector.

During the interview Monday, Cramer brought up Fidelity Investments allowing bitcoin as an option for 401(k) plans — the decision that has troubled the Labor Department. The Mad Money host asserted that it makes people “feel very comfortable with the asset that is bitcoin.” He asked Gensler, “are we too comfortable” with bitcoin?

“There’s a lot of risk in crypto” and “there’s also a lot of risk in classic securities markets,” Gensler replied, elaborating:

In the U.S… we have market regulators like the CFTC and the SEC to help protect the public against fraud and manipulation in the markets.

Gensler added that there are currently thousands of crypto tokens that do not comply with the laws, noting that when a group of entrepreneurs is selling something to the public, there must be “full and fair disclosures.” The chairman stressed: “That’s what the SEC does. That’s what we do really well.”

What do you think about the comments by SEC Chair Gensler? Let us know in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Blogarama - Blog Directory