BTCUSD Bitcoin

Bitcoin Global News (BGN)

February 11, 2019 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Over the past year, as a greater crypto community, there have been countless claims that the SEC will soon clarify its’ stance on cryptocurrencies. The problem is: we do not seem to have arrived at the time which can qualify as “soon,” yet.

On Friday, yet another announcement was made by Hester Peirce, who currently serves as one of the heads of the SEC, and CoinDesk seems to have almost concluded that it means that a new regulatory framework is coming in the near future. In reality however, the truth seems to lie somewhere in between this and a simple step in the right direction.

Clarifying what this means requires starting with what Peirce actually said. In a general sense, she made statements on the Howey Test being too broad of a framework for classifying whether or not cryptocurrencies should be treated as securities. At the same time, she reportedly finished by saying that the US government’s lack of a clearly defined stance on cryptocurrencies could encourage the industry’s innovation while giving the SEC valuable time to create a new framework. Here, by new framework, we mean a crypto or blockchain-centric alternative to the Howey Test.

Even though this sort of move is possible, in the end, as suggested above, nothing is really clear. Completely trusting in anyone outside of the SEC who weighs in on this topic would largely be inadvisable as well. If anything can be concluded from Peirce’s most recent announcement on this subject, it is that the SEC wants its’ final decision on how to treat cryptocurrencies to be decided deliberately, with hard data as its’ foundation. Until that occurs, it might be advisable to consult legal counsel on any investments that you make that have not yet been weighed in on.

By: BGN Editorial Staff