The US decides how to legally evaluate the Ethereum cryptocurrency

The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, has once again spoken out about cryptocurrencies. The official said that, in his opinion, the Ethereum virtual coin is a commodity. At the same time, the official noted that representatives of the leading US financial regulators cannot but come to a common denominator regarding the status of the virtual asset.

Benham emphasized that Gary Gensler, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has a different opinion on this matter. The US regulator has repeatedly refused to comment on the status of Ethereum, but has at times stated that ether cannot be equated with a commodity. Several times, he has argued that the SEC has good reason to classify the second largest cryptocurrency as an unregistered security. Gensler has also repeatedly recognized bitcoin (BTC) as a commodity, which means that the world’s largest digital currency should not be regulated by the SEC. However, the politician refused to explain why the statuses of BTC and ETH are different.

Currently, there is a heated debate in the United States about who can take control of the cryptocurrency market. Some believe that the SEC should do it, while others insist that it is the direct responsibility of the CFTC. The same Gensler has repeatedly stated that the vast majority of existing cryptocurrencies are unregistered securities, and therefore, his agency should be in charge of their control. At the same time, Mr. Behnam rejected the idea that the CFTC would be more lenient on the cryptocurrency sector and stated that the CFTC and the SEC should work together.

Back in September, Rostin Behnam called on the US Senate to pass a law expanding the CFTC’s authority over the cryptocurrency market. The Commissioner stated that he seeks to protect consumers through the availability of information and transparency of the regulatory process.

«We believe that participants in the digital commodity market are not able to provide us with all the necessary information. Therefore, the CFTC’s enforcement program should rely on consumer reports and complaints. This way,we can better detect fraud and manipulation in the market,» said Behnam.