Rostin Behnam has claimed that Ethereum is a commodity and not a security
Rostin Behnam, chairman of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has stated that Ethereum is a commodity and not a security, in apparent contrast to Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who has consistently argued that all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin are subject to securities laws.
At a Wednesday hearing before the Senate Agricultural Committee, Behnam claimed that Ethereum’s long-standing listing on CFTC exchanges offers a “clear jurisdictional hook” for the agency to monitor ETH’s futures and underlying markets.
“We would not have permitted the listing of Ether futures on a CFTC exchange if we did not firmly believe that it was a commodities asset,” he continued.
The dispute among regulators over whether cryptocurrencies should be categorized as securities or commodities has gained momentum over the last few years since the classification would define which agency is responsible for the primary regulation of digital assets. The cryptocurrency sector has overwhelmingly endorsed the CFTC as its preferred regulator over the SEC.
According to Gensler, proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies like Ethereum satisfy the Howey Test, a U.S. Supreme Court judgment used to determine whether a transaction qualifies as a security asset.
Behnam also seems to disagree with Gensler on stablecoins. Last month, the SEC threatened to punish Paxos for issuing BUSD as unregistered securities. In the lack of stablecoin-specific laws, Behnam has said that stablecoins should be considered commodities.
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