The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has insisted that ether is a commodity, not a security as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims. The CFTC chief stressed that the derivatives watchdog would not have allowed ether futures products to be listed on CFTC-regulated exchanges “if we didn’t feel strongly that this was a commodity asset.”
Ether is a Commodity, Says CFTC Chairman
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam addressed the claim made by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler that all crypto tokens other than bitcoin are values in a hearing before the Senate. Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on Wednesday.
During the hearing, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) asked Behnam: “In light of Chairman Gensler’s recent suggestion that all digital assets except bitcoin are securities, what does that mean for a number of designated contract markets (DCM) that currently offer futures? or exchanges in ether? DCMs are exchanges that operate under the regulatory oversight of the CFTC.
“Obviously it would raise questions about the legality of those DCMs, designated contract markets, listing these digital assets that are supposed to be securities,” the CFTC chairman responded, reiterating:
I have argued that ether is a commodity.
Noting that ether-based products have been “listed on CFTC exchanges for quite some time,” Behnam said: “For that reason, it creates a very direct jurisdictional hook for us to obviously control the derivatives market. , but also the underlying market”. ”
He further detailed: “The process by which an exchange or DCM will list a contract is very clear under our law. They could apply for Commission (CFTC) approval or they could self-certify a product. That self-certification process transfers the responsibility to both the CFTC and the market participant.”
The CFTC chief went on to explain why he strongly believes ether is a commodity. “I would say that serious and in-depth legal analysis is carried out before a product self-certifies, so I have no doubt and, having been aware of this and been on the Commission when ether futures were listed, both the exchange and the Commission thought very deeply and carefully about ‘what is the product?’ and ‘does it fall under the commodity regime or the security regime?’” he stressed:
We would not have allowed the product, in this case the ether futures product, to be listed on a CFTC exchange if we had not firmly believed that it was a commodity.
“Because we have litigation risk, we have agency credibility risk if we do something like this without a serious legal defense or defenses that support our argument that the asset is a commodity,” Behnam concluded.
Do you think ethereum will be classified as a security or a commodity in the US? Let us know in the comments section.
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