The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) argued that ether is a commodity, not a security as the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claimed. the CFTC chairman said the derivatives oversight agency stressed that ether futures products were never listed on CFTC-regulated exchanges.” If we do not feel strongly that ether is a commodity asset,”
ether is a commodity, the CFTC Chairman asserted
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam referred to the claim made by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler that all crypto tokens other than Bitcoin are securities at a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing on Wednesday He stated.
During the hearing, Senator Carsten Gillibrand (R-NY) asked Behnam:” Given Chairman Gensler’s recent suggestion that all digital assets other than Bitcoin are securities, what does this mean for the many Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) that currently offer Ether futures and swaps?” DCMs are exchanges that operate under the regulatory oversight of the CFTC.
“There will obviously be questions about the legality of those DCMs (designated contract markets) that are listing these digital assets that are referred to as securities.” The CFTC Chairman responded and reiterated that.
argued that the ether is a commodity.
Ether-based products “have been listed on CFTC exchanges for quite some time,” Behnam noted.
“So they would have very direct jurisdiction to police not only the derivatives market, but the underlying market as well.”
He elaborated further.
“The process by which exchanges and DCMs list contracts is very clear under our laws. They can seek Commission (CFTC) approval or they can self-certify their instruments. That self-certification process shifts the responsibility to both the CFTC and the market participants.”
The CFTC Director explained why he strongly believes ether is a commodity.” I believe that there is a serious and deep legal analysis that goes into the thought process before a commodity is self-certified.” In my opinion, when ether futures were listed, there is no doubt that both the Exchange and the Commission thought very deeply and deliberately about what the commodity was and whether it would be in the commodity regime or the securities regime, and I knew this and was on the Commission. He emphasized.
We would not have listed ether futures products on the CFTC exchange in this case if we did not feel strongly that they were commodities.
{Because if we did that without a serious legal defense or defense to support our claim that the asset was a commodity, we would have a litigation risk and an institutional credibility risk,” Behnam concluded.
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