The Chairman of the US SEC, Gary Gensler, expressed his view on cryptocurrencies. Via an interview with Jim Cramer, the Mad Money host, he spoke about Bitcoin too.
More Encouragement for Bitcoin
In Gensler’s view, Bitcoin is validly a commodity. He emphasized that all regulators can come together to oversee activities in the cryptocurrency sector. In his words, Bitcoin is a speculative asset class.
He said further that when people invest in cryptocurrencies, they expect to have a return. It is just like they invested in other financial commodities considered securities. Gensler also mentioned the pros and cons of the speculative asset class.
A lot of these crypto-assets have the major attributes of security, Gensler said. He made a contrasting description like his predecessors had done. He emphasized the commodity nature of Bitcoin.
Are there Agreements to this Effect?
Gensler’s statement is in tandem with what was said by Rostin Behnam earlier this month. Behnam, on his part, said Ethereum is equally a commodity. Rostin Behnam is the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Numerous proponents of the Bitcoin asset respect Gensler’s stance. Gensler is only the second SEC chairman to recognize Bitcoin as a commodity. This renders it practically impossible to remove in the future.
Michael Saylor, the CEO of Microstrategy, also expressed his thoughts regarding Gensler’s viewpoint. He stated that Bitcoin is an essential source for treasury reserve assets. It enables politicians, companies, and public sectors to support Bitcoin as a digital asset.
The comments by Gensler sparked concerns regarding Grascale’s approach. The company intends to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot-based ETF. It anticipates receiving a response from the US SEC on July 6.
In the perspective of James Seyffart, Gensler’s remark supports Bitcoin’s best interests. James Seyffart is a Bloomberg EFT commentator. However, that may not be enough to get the Grayscale EFT request accepted.
Bitcoin Retains Adequate Credibility
Gensler is the second SEC Commissioner to identify Bitcoin as a commodity. This makes it unlikely that it will be modified in the future. At least, this is the opinion of Blockchain Capital Group’s owner, Eric Weiss.
In the crypto business, however, there is dispute on the classification of digital assets. However, Bitcoin advocates insist that only Bitcoin can be called a product. Others, according to them, are unapproved securities.
Others believe categorizing cryptocurrencies in a binary manner is completely incorrect. Charles Hodkinson believes that category-based regulation will not work with cryptocurrency. This happens because corporate entities will be responsible for reporting and disclosure.