U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Jay Clayton confirmed an existing analysis stating that the world\u2019s second-largest cryptocurrency and other tokens of similar characteristics did not fall within the securities category under SEC standards.<\/p>\n
Last year, SEC Director of Corporation Finance William Hinman said during a speech that Ethereum did not exhibit the properties of a security<\/a>. At the time, he explained that he did not see a central group as being responsible for the cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n On March 12, the cryptocurrency and blockchain legislative advocacy group Coincenter published<\/a> correspondence between Jay Clayton and representative Ted Budd. Without mentioning Ethereum directly though, the letter explains that the SEC\u2019s staff analysis confirms that such cryptocurrencies are not subject to securities laws.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree with Director Hinman\u2019s explanation of how a digital asset transaction may no longer represent an investment contract if, for example, purchasers would no longer reasonably expect a person or group to carry out the essential managerial or entrepreneurial efforts. Under those circumstances, the digital asset may not represent an investment contract under the Howey framework,\u201d<\/strong> Clayton wrote in a letter dated March 7.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Coincenter\u2019s published blog post suggests that the letter is a confirmation that \u201cEthereum (and cryptos like it) are not securities,\u201d while its founder Jerry Brito thanked Ted Budd for helping reach out to the SEC chairman.<\/p>\n Thanks to @RepTedBudd<\/a> for his leadership getting regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies. Here is Chairman Clayton\u2019s response to recent letter from Budd and colleagues. https:\/\/t.co\/VA266mGOyr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) March 12, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n