SEC: crypto exchanges regulated as securities exchanges

The issue continues to be on the table that some cryptocurrencies would not be commodities, but securities, and that therefore, they would have to register with agencies such as the SEC in order to be traded freely in the markets. 

The SEC focuses on regulating crypto exchanges

Yesterday the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, added an important piece to this matter, saying that exchanges that allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies should be regulated in exactly the same way as exchanges that allow the exchange of, for example, equities. 

We have rules in our capital markets to safeguard market integrity & protect against fraud & manipulation. If a company builds a crypto market that protects investors & meets the standard of our market regulations, people will more likely have greater confidence in that market. pic.twitter.com/ZxdBfvmqXP

— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) July 28, 2022

In the video he posted on his personal Twitter profile, Gensler said that crypto exchanges are a threat, in terms of consumer protection that the SEC has to deal with, and that he would like them to be registered like traditional Exchanges, i.e. under the securities law. 

That is why he revealed that he has asked commission officials to work together with crypto platforms in an effort to regulate them in this regard. He also revealed that the SEC is trying to get some cryptocurrencies to be considered securities. 

A short time ago. Gensler himself had stated that he considered Bitcoin a commodity. By now there no longer seems to be any shared doubts about this definition. 

Some residual doubt has remained about Ethereum, especially since staking began. 

Many doubts remain about several other cryptocurrencies, starting with XRP which still has an ongoing lawsuit from the SEC against Ripple in this regard. 

In recent times, particularly after the implosion of the Terra ecosystem and the LUNA cryptocurrency, it seems that the question about whether some cryptocurrencies should be considered securities is not only gaining momentum again, but more importantly, it also seems that various government agencies are more inclined to consider many cryptocurrencies as securities. 

Crypto are at risk of being defined as “securities”

For example, in addition to XRP, there is the BNB (Binance Chain) issue, with its buybacks in the market, and all the other tokens issued by crypto companies such as those that operate exchanges. 

Right now, the only certainty is that Bitcoin cannot be considered a security, but should be regarded as a commodity. With regard to the rest, however, there are far fewer certainties, starting with all those cryptocurrencies that allow (and promise) gains by staking. 

Excluded from this reasoning are stablecoins, which certainly cannot be considered securities per se. 

Therefore, only crypto exchanges that allow trading only in Bitcoin and stablecoins can be excluded from Gensler’s reasoning. 

All others, i.e., the vast majority, fall under the case for which the SEC is trying to ascertain whether they should be treated as full-fledged security exchange platforms under current regulations.