US House Hearing: Crypto Presents a Challenge Beyond Hard and Fast Asset Classif

[Crypto]

Witnesses before the U.S. House of Agriculture Committee at a public hearing July 18 were unanimous in their view that digital assets complicate the hard and fast distinctions of existing regulatory frameworks.

The hearing was chaired by Texas U.S. Representative Michael Conaway, who convened six eminent witnesses to give testimony — former Goldman Sachs partner and U.S. government regulator Gary Gensler, Andreessen Horowitz managing partner Scott Kupor, the CFTC’s Daniel Gorfine, law professor Joshua Fairfield, Clovyr CEO Amber Baldet, and Perkins Coie managing partner Lowell Ness.

A key takeaway from the hearing was that a given digital asset may shift its regulatory status as it transitions from one context to another, given the fluidity of the crypto ecosystem.

Both Gensler and Fairfield argued that when a digital token is marketed at a “pre-functional” moment in its development — i.e. during an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) — then the sale is judged an investment contract and thus a security to be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-presents-a-challenge-beyond-hard-and-fast-asset-classifications-say-speakers-at-us-house-committee-hearing