As Prometheum, the primary and solely firm to safe a particular function dealer seller license from the US Securities and Change Fee, gears as much as launch its buying and selling operation, Commodity and Futures Buying and selling Fee Chairman Rostin Behnam mentioned guidelines throughout businesses might grow to be conflicting.
Bitcoin and ether are commodities, Behnam instructed the Home Committee on Agriculture throughout testimony Wednesday. He believes that any declare that Prometheum could also be making on the contrary will not be reflective of the SEC’s stance.
“From my understanding, basically studying the press and speaking to my workers, who’ve reached out to the SEC, this was an unbiased determination by Prometheum…to sign to the market that it’s their intent to custody both,” Behnam mentioned when requested about how the CFTC views ether.
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“So it’s my understanding that this was by no means a choice by the SEC, this was a person determination by the entity,” Behnam added.
Behnam was referring to Prometheum’s latest announcement that it will launch its custody service with ether as its first asset. The announcement raised eyebrows throughout the crypto trade as onlookers speculated whether or not the information would possibly pressure the SEC to take a extra direct place on ether’s standing as a safety or commodity.
“How this performs clearly may be very crucial…the problem is that if we do have any motion by the SEC, basically validating [Prometheum’s] determination constituting ether as a safety it is going to then put our registrants or exchanges who record both as a futures contract form of in non-compliance of SEC guidelines versus CFTC guidelines,” Behnam added.
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Behnam’s feedback have been in response to a query from Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson — a identified supporter of the crypto trade — about how ether being labeled as a safety might influence the CFTC’s jurisdiction. The CFTC permits registered commodity derivatives exchanges to record both derivatives contracts.