SEC Official Declares Ethereum is not a Security

[DooKey]

In an interesting move yesterday an official from the Securities and Exchange Commission declared that Ethereum is not a security. This is just one official stating this, but if the SEC sticks to this position it might mean less regulation of Ethereum in the future and may help this cryptocurrency grow. Stay tuned to see what happens over the next several months because I think the SEC is going to backtrack on this one. Check out his comments here.

“Based 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,” he said.

 

[jonathonball]

In a few days it'll be reveal that he owns shit loads of Ethereum. I'm kidding but, man, would that be hilarious.

 

[Brian_B]

I had to educate myself on this one a bit, as I didn't really understand what this meant. I thought - Well, hasn't the community always said these are currencies, not securities?

Turns out, foreign currency investment is considered a security, at least per some legal crap I just looked up and don't really understand. So this ruling would mean etherium isn't an investment vehicle, and therefor wouldn't be subject to capital gains on earnings?

 

[Shmee]

I had to educate myself on this one a bit, as I didn't really understand what this meant. I thought - Well, hasn't the community always said these are currencies, not securities?

Turns out, foreign currency investment is considered a security, at least per some legal crap I just looked up and don't really understand. So this ruling would mean etherium isn't an investment vehicle, and therefor wouldn't be subject to capital gains on earnings?

Pretty much they are saying it doesn't have intrinsic value, like a stock or something. It is only worth money to people who want it, so they aren't going to regulate it. Which means people are free to pump and dump at will. You are also correct that you will not need to pay taxes on it until you cash out your coin in to real money or goods.

 

[Imhotep]

Not according to my tax go to but, use at least two different exchanges with different banks. Who knows what these clowns will come up with or dig into your info a couple of years from now.

 

[Retronym]

In a few days it'll be reveal that he owns shit loads of Ethereum. I'm kidding but, man, would that be hilarious.

the current admin has pro crypto guys in a lot of key places. i've forgotten the details at this point but there are a lot of them.

 

[cjcox]

Please note that later the same day it was said that the dollar is no longer a "security" as well. And that only Pringles potato chips are moving forward (only the original ones though). However, if more than 50% of any given Pringle is damaged, the value goes to zero and it's not insured by any program through any bank.

(this bit of humor derived from a friend of mine in a foreign country where locals were saying that the USA's economic success was due to two things: Coins (talking US minted coinage) and Pringles... and oh yes, they were very very serious)

 

[Galvin]

Ethereum had a presale in 2014. So people thought this would make a security. But ethereum has been mined for a long time now. So cause of this they think there is enough distribution to make it more like a commodity

 

[Dead Parrot]

I had to educate myself on this one a bit, as I didn't really understand what this meant. I thought - Well, hasn't the community always said these are currencies, not securities?

Turns out, foreign currency investment is considered a security, at least per some legal crap I just looked up and don't really understand. So this ruling would mean etherium isn't an investment vehicle, and therefor wouldn't be subject to capital gains on earnings?

Lots of things aren't considered 'Securities' but you still have to pay taxes on your gains. Comic books for one. Granny's dusty collection of pictures of national parks that wind up being worth $100,000.

 

[Crystoff]

It now seems most likely that the crypto surge of late 2017 was due to manipulation.

If so, then it's also most likely that these coins will head back towards their historic, long-term values before the pump & dump. Meaning about $400 for BC and $12 for Ether. This will take time because people who bought high won't want to take the losses, but it will happen.

So IMHO it's crazy to buy or even hold crypto now. Some big traders are shorting BC, which makes sense.