SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated his view that crypto assets are securities.
Gensler continued to lay claim to regulating the crypto-asset industry for his agency tasked with regulating securities.
According to Gensler, cryptocurrencies should be regulated in the same way as securities. In his speech on reducing risk and increasing the transparency of derivatives at the International Swap and Derivatives Association Annual Meeting, Gensler said:
“Most cryptocurrencies involve a group of entrepreneurs raising money from people in anticipation of profit.”
Gensler aims to take full control of regulating the crypto industry, which is likely to result in harsh restrictions for companies and investors in the country.
Gensler claimed that very few crypto assets work like a commodity or digital gold. For this reason, he stated that the SEC, rather than the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), should have jurisdiction over these assets.
“Most tokens are investment contracts under the Supreme Court’s Howey Test”
If cryptocurrencies are designated as securities, companies dealing with these assets will be subject to strict regulation.
Crypto advocates such as Senator Cynthia Lummis and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand oppose this view and want crypto assets to be regulated by the CFTC because they are commodities.
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