The head of the US financial market regulator believes that bitcoin is not a financial instrument that eludes SEC regulation.
Gary Gensler, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulator of financial markets in the US, has been asking questions about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, putting a damper on the future of the sector.
The latter stated that bitcoin is not a financial instrument, unlike other cryptocurrencies, and therefore avoided the influence of the SEC. This is both good and bad news for the ecosystem. Indeed, bitcoin stands out more than other cryptocurrencies because it is more used as a currency, unlike other cryptocurrencies, which are more speculative.
“Everything but Bitcoin”
“Anything but Bitcoin: you can find a website, you can find a group of entrepreneurs, they can set up their legal entities in an offshore tax haven. [comme FTX], they can have a base, (…). But basically, these tokens are securities because there is an organization behind them, and the public expects benefits,” said Gary Gensler in an interview with New York Magazine.
If we translate his words, this means that all financial instruments fall under the control of the SEC, so digital assets, except for bitcoin, undermine all other crypto projects. We think, for example, of the Ethereum blockchain and its cryptocurrency Ethereum, which has been on the radar of the financial regulator since its transition to “proof of stake” after The Merge update.
Therefore, the SEC is trying to prepare people’s minds for a global regulation of cryptocurrencies outside of bitcoin, with increased controls on advertising, cybersecurity, custody of these assets… which will especially affect all centralized exchange platforms.