ETH - This One Thing Could Determine What Happens to the Price of Ethereum
The Securities and Exchange Commission potentially could deliver some fairly dire news to Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) investors. The agency is sending intensifying signals that it considers it to be a security rather than a cryptocurrency. Most recently, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler suggested that Ethereum's recent transition to a proof-of-stake blockchain is further proof that the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world is a security and should be regulated as such.
Obviously, any change in the regulatory stance of the SEC would have profound implications not just for Ethereum but also the entire crypto industry. Since 2018, there has been a general consensus that Ethereum is a cryptocurrency. As a result, it has never run afoul of federal securities laws. But then came The Merge in September. So what would happen if the SEC decided to regulate Ethereum as a security?
In a worst-case scenario, the SEC would bring some sort of enforcement action against Ethereum, in the same way that the SEC has gone after other players in the crypto industry. For example, the SEC has gone after cryptocurrency trading platform BlockFi for its crypto lending practices, and it has gone after Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) for allegedly listing some securities (and not cryptocurrencies) on its platform. Back in 2020, the SEC also went after high-flying crypto XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) , alleging that it is a security and not a cryptocurrency.
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This One Thing Could Determine What Happens to the Price of Ethereum