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The cryptocurrency sector has been significantly shaken up following lawsuits lodged against exchanges Binance and Coinbase. Increasing uncertainty arises as numerous cryptocurrencies are being declared securities and relevant litigation continues. Ethereum (ETH) is now in the spotlight due to an interesting assertion by JP Morgan, which suggests that the U.S. Congress might allocate Ethereum to a “different category.”
New Category for ETH
JP Morgan strategists stated that the U.S. Congress might classify Ether (ETH) in the same commodity category as Bitcoin (BTC), or it could be assigned to another particular category that wouldn’t cause significant regulatory issues. They expressed, “Cryptocurrencies, which are too decentralized to be described as securities, such as Ethereum, can be placed in a special ‘other category.’ This category could provide more restrictions and investor protection than currently defined for commodities, but more flexibility than required for securities.”
JP Morgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou shared these remarks in the wake of the Hinman documents. Former SEC executive Hinman stressed in his 2018 speech that ETH is not a security. During the ongoing case between Ripple Labs and SEC, all documents related to this were demanded and revealed. Hinman’s speech emphasized that due to its “sufficiently decentralized blockchain network,” Ethereum couldn’t be declared a security.
Ethereum May See Separate Treatment
In 2018, some SEC officials voiced concerns that ETH could also be considered a security. One such concern seems to be that not considering tokens on decentralized networks as securities could create a legal loophole in regulations. This might shed light on the explanation of a new category mentioned by the JP Morgan analyst.
Despite these developments, Ethereum’s price saw a 2% rise, currently trading around $1,667. Nevertheless, Ethereum still displays a 10% decrease on the weekly chart and hasn’t fully recovered. All these developments continue to have a generally bearish impact on altcoins.
