Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton offered his perspective on the continuing discussion regarding whether Ethereum (ETH) should be regarded as a security in a recent appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box.
This comes after Clayton himself sued Ripple while he was CEO, claiming the business had performed an unauthorised securities offering.
In the interview, Clayton talked about how European authorities are handling cryptocurrencies and emphasised how open-minded they are to integrating the technology into the regulatory framework.
He emphasised the inefficiency of the existing system, which relies on the courts to settle categorization disputes involving securities and commodities. Clayton also concurred with Gary Gensler, the current chairman of the SEC, that a sizable fraction of cryptocurrencies would qualify as securities.
When asked by Becky Quick of CNBC about Ethereum’s prospective position as an unregistered investment, Clayton compared it to a Broadway play to make his case. With the prospect of future ticket returns, he claimed that the original investments made in the play’s development might be regarded as securities.
Nevertheless, they cease to be securities and become just tickets if the show is a success and tickets are sold at the box office. Clayton used this reasoning to argue that Ethereum is more akin to a “ticket” than a way to gather money, though he conceded he was not fully aware of all the details.
The topic of Ethereum’s regulatory status is still up for discussion. Although avoiding inquiries on the second-largest cryptocurrency, Gensler has frequently suggested that all proof-of-stake coins are securities.
