The two most important cryptocurrencies in the market, are not considered securities according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official. WIlliam Hinman is the agency’s director of the division of corporate finance, and said that Ethereum shouldn’t be regulated as a security.
Bitcoin and Ether are not Securities
Investors can be sure that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), are not securities. Regulatory authorities in the United States have been working since very long time trying to determine whether Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptos should be considered as securities or not.
He said that when a cryptocurrency becomes decentralized, like Bitcoin for example, then the agency does not see it as a security. But, some Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) enter in this category, and will always be securities in the SEC’s eyes. That means that ICO tokens will have the same regulations as normal stocks. 
About it he said:
“Base on my understanding of the present state of ether, the Ethereum network, and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of ether are not securities transactions. And as with bitcoin, applying the disclosure regime of the federal securities laws to current transactions in ether would seem to add little value.”
And Ethereum developers have been very happy with this decision taken by the SEC. Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys, said that he applauds the clarity provided by Director Hinman and the SEC.
“Ether and other next-generation consumer utility tokens will continue evolving the web towards networks hat are more fair, secure, and evenly distributed,” Lubin commented. “ConsenSys looks forward to continuing to engage with regulators around the globe to promote responsible adoption of this transformative technology.”
According to Hinman it is possible to consider the first investment made in ether to be traditional investment vehicles. But later, it evolved into a decentralized platform that did not depend on its founders to keep growing. It is important to mention that most of the so-called ICOs are likely subject to regulation because they generally power a single start up product or app.
Image: wccftech
