Speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Market Summit, US Securities and Exchange Commission Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman went on record to say that Bitcoin and Ether are not securities.
“Aside from fundraising for the issue, Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, the current offerings and sales of Ether are not securities transactions,” said Hinman.
This is great news for digital currency holders, who would be subject to much more stringent scrutiny if Bitcoin and Ether were considered securities.
“We are pleased that the SEC agrees with our understanding of how securities law applies to decentralized networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum,” said Jerry Brito, executive director of the Coin Center, a nonprofit focused on cryptocurrency-related issues.
“We are very pleased that the SEC is taking an appropriate approach to this emerging technology. Thus, the SEC demonstrates that an innovative approach can be used not only to protect investors."
After this news, the price of Bitcoin rose more than 2% to $6,518.68, and the price of Ether soared 11.6% to $525.
According to marketwatch
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