Gary Gensler, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently claimed in an interview that every cryptocurrency except Bitcoin is a security that falls under the agency’s jurisdiction.
However, cryptocurrency lawyers have quickly rebuffed these comments, insisting that Gensler’s opinion is not legally binding.
According to Gensler, other crypto projects are securities because they involve a group in the middle, and the public is anticipating profits based on that group.
In contrast, Bitcoin does not have this feature. However, Jake Chervinsky, a lawyer and policy lead at Blockchain Association, a crypto advocacy group, argues that the SEC lacks the authority to regulate any token unless it can prove its case in court for each individual token, one at a time.
Lawyer Logan Bolinger also weighed in, emphasizing that Gensler’s opinion on what is or isn’t a security is not the final legal determination. Ultimately, judges will determine what the law means and how it applies.
Jason Brett, the policy lead at the advocacy body Bitcoin Policy Institute, expressed concern over Gensler’s comments, stating that they should be feared rather than celebrated. Brett suggests that there are alternative ways to win regulatory battles other than relying on a regulatory moat.
