Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency project by market capitalization, took a stand on recent actions taken by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the field of the application of cryptocurrencies. Buterin mentioned how projects like Solana were included in these lawsuits and said the real competition was the “centralized world.”
Vitalik Buterin Opens Up on SEC Crypto Enforcement Actions
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, shared his thoughts on the recent crypto enforcement actions that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken against crypto exchanges and projects. cash. Asked for his thoughts on the matter by Matt Huang, co-founder of California-based crypto investment firm Paradigm, Buterin answered:
I feel bad that Solana and other projects are affected in this way. They don’t deserve it, and if Ethereum ends up “winning” thanks to all the other blockchains being excluded from trading, that’s not an honorable way to win, and in the long run, it’s probably not even a good idea. victory.
Furthermore, Buterin warned about the possible goals behind these actions, stating that “the real competition is not other channels, it is the rapidly expanding centralized world that imposes itself on us as we let’s talk,” wishing other crypto projects a “fair outcome” on this situation.
Ethereum, Solana and their classification
Solana, Cardano, Polygon, BNB and other cryptocurrency projects have been included in the ongoing legal cases the SEC is pursuing against Coinbase and Binance, two of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the market. SOL, the native token of Solana, a smart contract-compatible cryptocurrency project, was labeled as security in these processes, endangering its permanence and listing on US exchanges without prior registration.
However, the Solana Foundation, whose mission is “to help make the Solana protocol the most censorship-resistant network in the world,” questioned the validity of the SEC’s vision, declaring he “disagrees with the characterization of SOL as a title”.
Ether, the native token of the Ethereum network, is also part of this debate on the categorization of security. At a recent congressional hearing, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler did not directly answer the question of whether or not ether represented a security in the eyes of the commission.
However, in his now infamous 2018 speech, former SEC official William Hinman explained that it was his understanding that “the current offers and sales of ether do not constitute securities transactions.” On March 9, 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Kucoin, in which the prosecutor classified ether as collateral.
According to JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the revelation of the Hinman documents, a group of internal memos and emails showing discussions the SEC officer had before this speech, reinforces the possibility that Ethereum is considered a commodity , explaining that these could trigger a decentralization boom. .
What do you think of Vitalik Buterin’s stance on SEC enforcement actions against crypto projects? Tell us in the comments section below.
