Regulatory Storm: Ethereum and Securities Classification

It got heated this week on Capitol Hill with SEC Chair Gary Gensler testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on his agency’s efforts to rein in the U.S. crypto industry. Jason Gottlieb, partner at Morrison Cohen, unpacks what was said and whether we’ll continue to see more crackdowns from the U.S. securities regulator.

Show highlights:

• Whether ETH is a security and what would be the impact if it was declared as such by the SEC
• Whether the SEC is harming investors 
• What the potential impacts of the SEC lawsuit against Bittrex are
• Why the case against crypto exchange Beaxy could serve as a precursor to a potential case against Coinbase
• How the SEC’s lack of clear regulation is pushing crypto out of America, according to Jason
• Why the SEC is trying to expand the definition of an exchange and its possible effects on DeFi

Thank you to our sponsors!

• Crypto.com
• Railgun DAO 

Guest

Jason Gottlieb, Partner at Morrison Cohen & Chair of the Digital Assets Department 

• Previous appearances on Unchained: The Department of Justice Goes After Its First NFT Insider Trading Case

Previous coverage of Unchained on the SEC’s actions: 

• Rep. Emmer on Why He Believes Gary Gensler Is a ‘Bad-Faith Regulator’
• Is the Government Trying to Kill Off Crypto in the US?
• Coinbase’s Top Lawyer Calls SEC Wells Notice a ‘Massive Overreach’

Links

• CoinDesk: U.S. SEC Moves Toward DeFi Oversight as It Reopens Proposed Regulations
• Unchained: 
• SEC Chair Gary Gensler Avoids Question: ‘Is Ethereum a Security?’
• SEC Sues Bittrex, Names Dash, Algorand and Other Tokens ‘Crypto Asset Securities’
• Proposed rule: Amendments Regarding the Definition of “Exchange” and Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs)
• Rendering Innovation Kaput: Statement on Amending the Definition of Exchange
• POLITICO: McHenry clashes with SEC’s Gensler over crypto crackdown
• Forbes: Crypto Exchange Beaxy Shuts Down Amid SEC Charges

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