US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has outlined why he considers all other non-bitcoin cryptocurrency tokens to be securities. He acknowledged that tokens can come in various forms but highlighted that they are all the same. “At their core, these tokens are securities,” he said.
SEC Chief Stipulates That All Cryptocurrency Tokens Other Than Bitcoin Are Securities
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has clarified why he believes all cryptocurrency tokens other than bitcoin are securities in an interview Thursday with New York Magazine’s Intelligencer.
Gensler asserted that the securities regulator has all the necessary legal tools to regulate the cryptocurrency industry. The head of the SEC also noted that most cryptocurrency transactions are currently under the SEC’s purview. The SEC does not permit spot trading in bitcoin or the direct purchase or sale of products or services with cryptocurrency.
The SEC Chairman articulated this as follows:
Aside from bitcoin… you have a website, you have a bunch of entrepreneurs, you can set up your legal entities in an offshore tax haven, you can have a foundation, you can bring a lawyer to try to arbitrate and get it done. . . jurisdictional challenge, etc.
“At first, they would drop their tokens offshore and claim or pretend that it’s going to be six months before they come back to the US,” Gensler continued, without mentioning any particular cryptocurrencies. He emphasized:
But essentially, these tokens act as securities since there’s a pool at the center and the public expects positive things based on that pool.
Following Gensler’s remarks, the SEC chief declared that all crypto tokens, aside from BTC, are securities. However, many people disagreed with him on social media. Lawyer Jake Chervinsky tweeted:
Although Chairman Gensler may have thought all digital assets, other than bitcoin, were securities, this is not the case.
“The SEC lacks the authority to regulate any of them until it proves its case in court,” Chervinsky added, stressing that this involves being accountable “for each asset, each one, individually, separately.” Logan Bolinger, another lawyer, also chimed in on Twitter: “In this country, judges, not SEC Chairmen, will ultimately decide what the law is and how it is enforced. That doesn’t necessarily mean your views are irrelevant. They’re ‘Units are not the same thing.'”
What are your thoughts on SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s assertion that all non-bitcoin cryptocurrency tokens are securities? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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