CFTC Chairman: Bitcoin and Ether Are Commodities
The chairman of the United States commodities regulator has once again made the argument that Bitcoin and Ethereum, two of the largest cryptocurrencies, should be considered commodities and regulated by his agency.
During a hearing on July 9 in front of the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Rostin Behnam stated that a recent court ruling in Illinois confirms this classification.
The ruling, issued on July 3 as part of a Ponzi scheme case, stated that both Bitcoin and Ether should be considered commodities.
The ruling from the district court judge also classified Olympus (OHM) and KlimaDAO (KLIMA) as commodities. Behnam also referenced a report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that called for the CFTC to increase its supervision of digital commodities in the spot market.
The report highlighted gaps in regulation for digital assets that are not considered securities.
