After running wild all over the cryptocurrency industry, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States is now amending the terminology it uses regarding cryptocurrency.
It is amazing how the government can do what it wants, cause a wake of damage and then say "oops, we are sorry".
Of course, the agency claimed that it will be more careful in the future.
Another amazing fact is people still true and believe in these people.
So let is see how Gensler and company are now viewing things.
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Crypto A Security?
The situation is surrounding the SEC's actions against Binance.
In a filing with the court, in the footnotes was a very interesting admission.
According to a footnote in a Sept. 12 court filing, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has retracted its longstanding characterization of cryptocurrencies as “securities” and intends to use more careful language in the future.
After almost 4 years of Gensler etal running around telling everyone these are securities, it is now retracting that characterization?
The retraction arose from the SEC’s ongoing lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance for allegedly offering and selling unregistered securities. In a 2023 complaint, the SEC identified 10 crypto assets on the Binance platform as “securities,” including the native tokens of Solana, Cardano (ADA) and Polygon.
Remember when Gensler refused to answer Congress, while under oath, whether Ethereum was a security or not? This was a sign of the misdirection and corrupt actions the agency was engaging in.
It is now having to come out.
The SEC “regrets any confusion” caused by its characterization of these tokens as “crypto asset securities” and “no longer uses the shorthand term,” according to the Sept. 12 filing.
“With its use of the term ‘crypto asset securities,’ the SEC is not referring to the crypto asset itself as the security,” the agency said. Instead, a token’s status as a security “consists of the full set of contracts, expectations, and understandings centered on the sales and distribution of the [crypto asset],” it said, citing language from an earlier filing.
So a crypto asset is not a security by nature and depends upon an associated set of characteristics that might (or might not) make it so.
Of course, it is up to a court to decide that. Yet the government spent most of the last 4 years telling everyone that cryptocurrency was a security.
The agency still asserts that Binance is guilty of selling a security because of the investment contract, hence it is not off the hook.
Crypto Doesn't Need Government Corruption
The crypto industry continues to screw itself.
We know the original premise of Satoshi, while not gone, is buried deep. Greed took over and is now running the show. Many in crypto attack the traditional financial system, along with Wall Street, yet are driven by the same greed.
Builders are looking for clarification from the government. Another way to phrase this is people want permission. Crypto is looking to Big Daddy to know if it is okay to proceed.
You do not ask permission for freedom.
Naturally, the likes of CZ, SBF, and Justin Sun only make the situation worse. They commit fraud in a manner that resembles exactly what the bankers have done for decades. The reason why CZ is in jail is because he is not a banker. If he worked at Wells fargo or Credit Suisse, he would be a free man.
After all, deceptive and illegal practices are just a cost of doing business. Fines only serve to reduce the profit margin on the fraud. Since the governments get their money, they act as a partner.
Decentralization requires no permission. This is the antidote to what we see. The fact that crypto is involved in actions like this tell us how far we moved from the original premise.
Instead of going around the existing financial system, crypto is simply being merged in. Wall Street is hijacking as much as they can, placing it right in the hands of the US (and others) governments.
As mentioned on a number of occasions, this is only ramping up with the advancement of generative AI. Web 3.0 is going to be crucial for the future of humanity.
We can see what governments do with data. Basically, that is what cryptocurrency is. Yet here are entities trying to control it.
Data that is housed on permissionless databases and move along decentralized networks are a major issue for centralized entities. The SEC cannot do much about this.
With this reversal, the SEC is showing how governments operate. They do what they want and, if in the wrong, decide the time to amend things. Gensler knew damn well when he was in front of Congress how his agency was misleading the public by calling crypto assets "securities".
After 4 years, it finally comes out.
One final thought: if the government is doing this with crypto, what do you think it will try and do with AI? What admissions will it come out with in 5 years, after trying to control that technology.
Governments and corporations are not transparent. It is time the crypto industry started to follow the path to another outcome.