Connect with us
DAPA Banner

Crypto World

The SEC explains how it’s viewing a crypto security: State of Crypto

Published

on

The SEC explains how it's viewing a crypto security: State of Crypto

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission published interpretive guidance explaining how they might define what is or isn’t a security in crypto; the CFTC also issued a no-action letter for a non-custodial wallet provider to facilitate derivatives and prediction markets transactions; Arizona is filing criminal charges against a prediction market provider; and by the way we kind-of-sort-of have hints of movement on market structure legislation.

What a week, huh?

You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions.

The narrative

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published interpretive guidance this week — joined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — laying out how it approached the question of what in crypto it will deem a security.

Advertisement

Why it matters

What is, and isn’t, a security has long bedeviled the industry. We had efforts at somewhat defining this from the SEC in the past — Bill Hinman’s “When Howey met Gary (plastics)” speech, for example — but this week’s interpretative guidance is one of the most specific efforts to define this for the industry.

Breaking it down

The SEC laid out several categories it saw in the crypto space, with one of these categories being digital securities. These are cryptocurrencies that meet the definition of a security under any other context, but happen to be tokenized, the guidance said. For example, if a crypto asset meets the prongs of the Howey Test, it’s a security.

This is the category of tokens the SEC will oversee.

Other categories include payment stablecoins, digital tools, digital collectibles and digital commodities, which are generally not securities unless the issuers or operators take actions that might meet securities regulations, such as fractionalizing the tokens in question.

Advertisement

“We establish a straightforward taxonomy of crypto assets — most of which are not securities — and clarify how the Supreme Court’s Howey test applies when a crypto asset is part of an investment contract,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda wrote in an oped for CoinDesk.

The CFTC said it would sign on to the guidance and administer it under the Commodities Exchange Act.

“Market participants — from innovators and issuers to individual investors — should review this interpretation to better understand the regulatory jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC,” the CFTC said in a press release. “The interpretation will be published on CFTC.gov and in the Federal Register.”

Congressman Troy Downing (R-Mont.) called the guidance “very positive,” but said Congress still needed to pass market structure legislation as a future administration could undo the interpretative guidance.

Advertisement

“Just having another two or three years of this and then having ambiguity out there doesn’t make most people comfortable on doing any kind of big investment,” he told CoinDesk. “But it’s a great start because this is exactly what the industry wants, and it allows some people to move forward.”

Chris LaVigne, a partner at the law firm Withers, said the guidance “predictably concludes that most crypto assets and many common crypto activities are not securities,” though the agency kept some discretion to being an enforcement action in this area.

“The guidance moves the securities inquiry away from the asset or activity itself (which are mostly deemed digital commodities not within the purview of the SEC) and re-centers the analysis on the transactions and representations in which these assets or activities arise or are marketed,” he said. “By doing so, the SEC did not completely eliminate uncertainty or its enforcement role, because it concludes that a crypto asset that is not a security can nonetheless be sold as part of an investment contract if it is marketed with promises of profit derived from the issuer’s essential managerial efforts.”

A crypto that was marketed as a security may eventually be deemed something else “once those promises are fulfilled or no longer operative,” he said. This might affect securities more broadly than just crypto assets.

Advertisement

It’s less clear what may constitute a commodity under the guidance.

Jason Gottlieb, a partner at Morrison Cohen, said the Commodity Exchange Act defines commodities as a list of products (excluding onions and motion picture box office receipts), services and other issues “in which contracts for future delivery are presently or in the future dealt in.”

This legal definition diverges from the definition seemingly being used in the guidance. The CFTC’s approach to crypto over the past decade has evolved since some early lawsuits, where it claimed jurisdiction over bitcoin , leading it to seemingly have jurisdiction over non-security cryptocurrencies. But this definition needs to be codified by market structure legislation, he told CoinDesk.

“People need to understand that jurisdiction is still uncertain. The SEC is clearly saying ‘we don’t have jurisdiction if the token does not meet these criteria,’” he said. “Just because the SEC does not have jurisdiction does not mean the CFTC does.”

Advertisement

Gottlieb said he was part of a case before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to gain clarity on this question, but market structure legislation would be needed to cleanly grant the CFTC jurisdiction over all non-security cryptocurrencies.

The status of that legislation also remains up in the air. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), speaking at the DC Blockchain summit earlier this week, said she anticipated a markup may happen in the final weeks of April. The issue of stablecoin yield may be resolved with an agreement that stablecoin issuers and their partner firms would not describe their products using bank terminology, though she cautioned that she hadn’t seen any specific language yet.

The flip side, several individuals told me, is that the Clarity Act might require the SEC to go back to the drawing board on how it’s defining securities in crypto. But this falls under the category of bridges that can be crossed when they’re reached.

Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said lawmakers are also close to agreements on issues like ethics and quorums on the regulatory agencies — some of the outstanding areas of disagreement on the bill.

Advertisement

Downing said he saw an April time frame as doable for advancing market structure legislation. The closer lawmakers get to the end of the year, however, the less likely it would be that anything could be passed, he said, pointing to the midterm election. “But I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said on stage at the DC summit that she was “optimistic” there would be a markup soon, which would then lead to the Banking and Agriculture Committee’s bills combining.

The combined bill would need to incorporate areas of bipartisan agreement, she said.

“One of the issues that I think is very important that people should be aware of is the Senate wants an ethics provision,” she said. “I think the House would have had even more support on the Democratic side if they had retained their ethics provisions in their bill. It’s very important that members of Congress do not get rich off of this industry, because they have access to non-public information, because they have positions of power and authority.”

Advertisement

Downing said the market structure bill needed to address consumer protections and money laundering, without being so restrictive that companies would be scared to do anything.

“Nobody wants bad actors in their space and nobody wants that reputation of bad actors using this as a tool to do bad things,” he said. “… If you bring those [provisions] in too narrow, nobody’s going to do anything innovative.”

He said he understood why banks might be concerned about the yield issues.

“Community lenders, community banks are worried about depositors all exiting the market, in which case you’re not doing mortgages on small farms in Montana, right?” he said.

Advertisement

Late Friday, Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis told Politico they had reached an agreement on the yield issue, though the details had not been shared with the banking or crypto industries as of press time.

Kalshi was just ordered to cease offering most of its prediction markets in the state of Nevada for at least two weeks, pending a hearing on April 3.

The order came after an appeals court refused to grant an administrative motion that could have blocked the state court’s action. Earlier in the week, the state of Arizona filed criminal charges against Kalshi, alleging some of its election and other contracts violate state law.

In Nevada, a judge ruled that Kalshi can’t offer sports, election or entertainment-related event contracts at least temporarily.

Advertisement

According to the order by Judge Jason Woodbury, the record in Nevada’s case against Kalshi so far suggests that it offers products defined by state law, making its conduct subject to Nevada’s gaming regulators.

“The question of federal preemption in this regard is nuanced and rapidly evolving,” the judge wrote. “At the moment, the balance of convincing legal authority weighs against federal preemption in this context.”

The Arizona action goes further, alleging misdemeanor violations on small bets placed on professional football and college basketball games, upcoming elections and on whether bills become law and whether public figures will show up to sporting events.

“Arizona law prohibits operating an unlicensed wagering business, and separately bans betting on elections outright,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office said in a press release.

Advertisement

Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour called the charges a “total overstep” that “have nothing to do with gambling or the merits.”

There’s a broader growing backlash to prediction markets. Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, who represents Nevada, wrote an opinion piece saying prediction markets “blatantly violate state and tribal laws and regulations.”

“To ensure responsible gaming, casinos, sportsbooks and online gaming sites have to follow minimum age requirements, participate in integrity monitoring and support critical consumer protections, like programs that help people with gambling addictions,” she said. “Yet, this past year, emboldened by limp and overly permissive federal regulators like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), so-called ‘prediction markets’ have transformed themselves into illegal sportsbooks, offering their users illicit sports wagers.”

This week

Advertisement
  • There are no hearings or public meetings scheduled (at least pertaining to crypto).

If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.

See ya’ll next week!

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Crypto World

ETH Stretch: Could Tom Lee Build a Better Flywheel Than Saylor?

Published

on

Brian Armstrong's Bold Prediction: AI Agents Will Soon Dominate Global Financial

TLDR:

  • Bitmine holds 4.6 million ETH, with 3 million actively staked and generating around $180 million annually.
  • Ethereum’s 2.8% staking yield cuts the cost gap, meaning Lee needs only 8–9% more to match Saylor’s offer.
  • Bitmine has been acquiring over 60,000 ETH weekly, building a low cost basis ahead of any product launch.
  • Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum’s native protocol yield subsidizes the dividend structure, making the flywheel self-reinforcing.

ETH Stretch may be the next big institutional product to emerge in the crypto market. Bitmine, led by strategist Tom Lee, currently holds 4.6 million ETH.

That figure represents nearly 4% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply. Of that holding, 3 million ETH is actively staked, generating around $180 million per year in protocol rewards.

Analyst Axel Bitblaze recently argued that Lee has the infrastructure to launch a Stretch-style fixed-yield product on this existing base.

Ethereum Staking Yield Creates a Structural Cost Advantage

Michael Saylor’s Stretch product offers a fixed 11.5% yield, with all proceeds going into Bitcoin. This buying pressure has pushed hundreds of millions into BTC each week.

Many credit this as a key reason Bitcoin held above $69,000. Without this demand, some analysts suggest prices would sit near $50,000.

Advertisement

Tom Lee, however, already runs a yield engine that Saylor does not have. Bitmine’s staked ETH generates about 2.8% annually from Ethereum’s protocol.

That income covers part of any fixed dividend Lee would need to pay out. Lee would only need to generate an additional 8–9% to match Saylor’s offer.

Bitblaze noted on X that this cost structure allows Lee to undercut Stretch on yield expenses. That margin could make the product more attractive to institutional capital.

Wall Street typically responds well to yield products with stronger cost profiles. Staking income is a meaningful competitive edge in this space.

Additionally, Bitmine has been buying over 60,000 ETH per week in current market conditions. The firm’s cost basis remains low, and Ethereum sentiment is broadly negative.

Those two factors create a favorable window for any product announcement. A low cost basis combined with native yield strengthens the overall case considerably.

The Ethereum Flywheel and Its Reflexivity Potential

The mechanics of an ETH Stretch product follow a clear and self-reinforcing loop. Every dollar raised would go toward buying more ETH on the open market.

Advertisement

More ETH purchased means more ETH available for staking. More staked ETH then generates additional protocol rewards to help fund the dividend.

This cycle differs from Saylor’s model in one key respect: Ethereum has native yield. Bitcoin has no protocol income, yet the BTC Stretch flywheel has still gained traction.

Ethereum’s staking rewards subsidize the structure from the start. That makes the feedback loop cheaper to run and easier to grow.

Bitblaze argued that Saylor’s flywheel works despite Bitcoin having no yield. Lee’s version, by contrast, would run on Ethereum’s own protocol income.

Advertisement

That distinction changes the product economics entirely. A yield-backed demand engine does not rely solely on price appreciation. It draws strength directly from the Ethereum protocol itself.

Should Lee announce such a product while sentiment is low, the price response could be rapid. Institutional capital targeting yield would flow in, driving ETH demand higher.

Higher ETH prices improve staking returns in dollar terms, attracting still more capital. That loop, once active, tends to accelerate.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Ethereum Price Prediction: ETH Price Could Reach $2,500 as BNB Weakens and Pepeto Shows the Utility Gains That Matter

Published

on

Ethereum Price Prediction: ETH Price Could Reach $2,500 as BNB Weakens and Pepeto Shows the Utility Gains That Matter

BlackRock launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust on March 12, and the fund pulled in $254 million in its first week, making it the fastest growing crypto ETF this quarter.

While the ethereum price prediction shows a path toward $2,500, Pepeto is drawing attention with exchange infrastructure already live, more than $8 million raised, and a Binance listing approaching. The wallets entering now are targeting returns the ethereum price prediction needs the full cycle to deliver.

Ethereum Price Prediction Gains Support After BlackRock Staked ETF Pulls $254 Million in One Week

BlackRock launched ETHB on March 12 on Nasdaq, staking 70% to 95% of its Ethereum holdings and paying investors roughly 82% of staking rewards through monthly payouts, according to CoinDesk.

The fund reached $254 million in assets within seven days, according to Decrypt. Goldman Sachs reported over $1 billion in Ethereum ETF holdings, and Larry Fink called blockchain infrastructure necessary at Davos this year.

Advertisement

The ethereum price prediction has institutional money behind it, but from $2,083 the path to $2,500 is a 20% move that takes patience.

Ethereum Price Prediction and the Presale Offering Returns ETH Cannot Match

Pepeto

As rug pulls grow more common, the cost of entering a project without checking its contracts keeps rising. Every cycle, traders lose more capital to scams that grow harder to detect with each new method. Doing your own research takes hours most people do not have, and it still misses the risks buried in smart contract code.

Pepeto was designed to end that problem before your money is at risk. The exchange is already running while the presale fills. The risk scorer examines every contract for hidden traps and scam patterns, giving you a clear answer in seconds instead of hours of digging through code, so you act with confidence instead of guessing.

The cofounder who took the original Pepe coin to $11 billion with nothing is now building an exchange with zero fee trading, cross chain transfers at zero cost through the bridge, and a SolidProof audit completed before the presale opened. A former Binance expert is on the dev team, 195% APY staking compounds in wallets that positioned early, and the presale has crossed more than $8 million with the Binance listing approaching.

Advertisement

At $0.000000186 with the same 420 trillion supply that reached $11 billion under Pepe, matching that market cap is over 150x, and Pepeto has the exchange infrastructure Pepe never built. The wallets filling the presale are taking the entry that disappears the moment trading begins, and the holders who are not inside yet are the ones who will spend this cycle wishing they had moved.

Ethereum Price Prediction: Can ETH Reach $2,500 With BlackRock Leading Institutional Demand?

ETH trades near $2,083 as of March 22, holding above the $2,000 support that formed a floor since mid February, according to CoinMarketCap.

BlackRock’s ETHA holds $6.5 billion and the new staked ETHB already sits at $254 million after one week. Resistance levels form at $2,235 and $2,380, and if both break cleanly the next ethereum price prediction target is $2,500.

Losing $2,000 could trigger a pullback toward $1,800. Even the bullish $2,500 scenario is a 20% move from current prices, a return that requires months of positive conditions and institutional follow through.

Advertisement

BNB

BNB trades near $631 as of March 22, steady despite the broader correction, according to CoinMarketCap. The Binance ecosystem keeps BNB supported, but from $631 the token needs to reclaim $720 before any meaningful run begins.

A 2x requires BNB above $1,200, a level it has never held. Neither the ethereum price prediction nor BNB delivers the distance a presale to exchange listing compresses into the moment trading opens.

Ethereum Price Prediction Points to $2,500 but the Presale Entry Points to Where Wealth Was Built

The ethereum price prediction has BlackRock behind it, the staked ETF is pulling institutional money, and the $2,500 target is realistic. But the smart money wallets filling Pepeto at presale pricing are building positions that expect returns ETH from $2,090 takes years to match.

The crypto news will cover this moment after the Binance listing, and the only question is whether you lock in your position on the Pepeto official website today or pay a higher price later from wallets that moved while you were still reading about ETH.

Advertisement

BlackRock is staking ETH for 3% yield. The wallets inside Pepeto are targeting 150x, decide which return fits this cycle.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

What is the ethereum price prediction for today?

The ethereum price prediction targets $2,500 if ETH holds above $2,000 support. Investors seeking faster returns are looking at Pepeto, where matching Pepe’s market cap is over 150x from presale.

Why is Pepeto trending alongside the ethereum price prediction?

Pepeto has become the presale drawing the most capital because it combines a working exchange with the same supply that took Pepe to $11 billion, positioning it for returns ETH cannot match from $2,083.

How does the ethereum price prediction compare with early presales like Pepeto?

The Pepeto official website offers a presale where the Binance listing compresses the return window into days, while the ethereum price prediction from $2,083 to $2,500 is a 20% move requiring months.

Advertisement

Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Iran Warns of Regional Energy Strikes After Trump Threats Over Hormuz Strait

Published

on

Brian Armstrong's Bold Prediction: AI Agents Will Soon Dominate Global Financial

TLDR:

  • Trump issues 48-hour ultimatum demanding Iran reopen the Strait or face power plant strikes.
  • Iran warns of full closure of the Strait and retaliation against regional energy infrastructure.
  • Tanker traffic dropped 90%, increasing concerns over global oil supply and market stability.
  • Iranian officials list potential targets, including Israel and US-linked energy assets.

Iran war live Trump Strait of Hormuz tensions intensified after a 48-hour ultimatum triggered threats of energy infrastructure attacks, raising risks of wider regional escalation and disruption to global oil transit routes.

Trump Issues 48-Hour Ultimatum

The United States has issued a direct warning to Tehran. In his statement, President Donald Trump demanded that Iran fully reopen the Strait within 48 hours. 

He threatened attacks on major Iranian power plants if the demand is ignored. The ultimatum highlighted the strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant portion of global oil shipments pass. 

Tanker traffic has already fallen by nearly 90% in recent weeks, raising concerns about energy supply disruptions worldwide.

Trump’s statement did not clarify whether nuclear-linked power plants, such as Bushehr, would be included in the strike. This uncertainty added to regional tension, as the potential for collateral damage remains high.

Advertisement

 “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN the Strait, the US will hit major power plants first,” Trump’s statement read, reflecting the firm deadline.

Iran Warns of Retaliation and Regional Impact

Iranian officials outlined a detailed response as spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari confirmed that the Strait remains partially open under controlled access. He however, warned that any strike on power plants would trigger immediate retaliation.

Iran indicated that a full closure of the Strait would follow any attack, with reopening dependent on reconstruction of damaged infrastructure. 

Officials also listed potential regional targets, including power plants in Israel, companies with American shareholders, and energy infrastructure in countries hosting US bases.

Advertisement

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, further emphasized the scale of potential consequences. He warned that attacks on Iranian infrastructure could lead to the irreversible destruction of energy networks across the Gulf, maintaining elevated oil prices for an extended period.

Previous demonstrations of Iran’s reach, such as the strike on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG terminal, showed the country’s capability to disrupt regional energy systems. 

Regional and international actors are monitoring the situation closely, highlighting the strategic and economic stakes.

Iran war live Trump Strait of Hormuz tensions remain critical as the 48-hour deadline approaches, with both sides maintaining firm positions and regional stability at stake.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

BTC Performance Driven By Individuals While Central Banks Drive Gold Price

Published

on

Gold, Bitcoin Price, Bitcoin ETF

The divergence between gold and Bitcoin (BTC) in 2026 can be explained by two distinct segments of buyers, according to Stephen Coltman, head of macro at crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) provider 21Shares.

Gold’s rally over the last three years has been primarily fueled by central bank buying, while Bitcoin is more widely held by individuals than financial institutions, Coltman told Cointelegraph. He said:

“Physical gold has a greater geopolitical strategic role currently, as the asset of choice for state actors who want to store wealth in a way that is protected from rival powers. This has meant that it has traded with greater sensitivity to deteriorating international relations.”

However, BTC has more utility for individuals who may use it as an alternative “lifeline” when local banking infrastructure fails during times of crisis, and accessing the traditional financial system is not possible. 

Gold, Bitcoin Price, Bitcoin ETF
Gold falls below the 50-day exponential moving average, a key support level. Source: TradingView

“Shortly after the conflict started, both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi exchanges were shut down following missile and drone strikes from Iran,” which, he said, is a “stark reminder” of how valuable 24/7 access is in wartime situations or other emergencies.

Coltman told Cointelegraph that the inverse correlation between BTC and gold means that investors should hold both to benefit from each asset’s unique properties.

Advertisement

Ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical shocks over the last several years drove gold to an all-time high of nearly $5,600 per ounce in January 2026.

However, heightened volatility dragged the precious metal back down to about $4,497 per ounce, leading to renewed debate among analysts about gold’s role as a store of value asset, and how it will perform against Bitcoin in the coming years.

Related: Bitcoin vs gold shows potential bottom signals as BTC bulls defend $70K

Advertisement

Financial analysts are split on gold versus BTC dominance

Bitcoin is likely to outperform gold over the next three years, according to macroeconomist Lyn Alden.

“It’s usually a pendulum between the two. If gold has gone up as much as it did, the entire diminishing return story per cycle is going to be erased in the coming one, too,” Alden said.

However, former hedge fund manager Ray Dalio expects that BTC will never replace gold as a store-of-value asset because it still trades like a risk-on asset with correlation to technology stocks, while gold is entrenched as a reserve asset in the banking system.

Magazine: Is China hoarding gold so yuan becomes global reserve instead of USD?

Advertisement