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A lot of people on this thread are conflating Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for what the SEC is talking about in this statement: tokens that are acting as securities. They do not mean Bitcoin and similar tokens (ETH, LTC, ADA, NEO, etc). If you've been following the SEC's other statements, testimonies, and senate committee hearings, you would know that they do not have a problem with digital currencies per se. That is outside of their mandate (those fall under the CFTC's purview). What the SEC is concerned with is companies that issue digital tokens which act as securities. That is to say, the reason people buy the tokens is the expectation that the work of the company that issued the tokens will cause the value of the tokens to increase, and that is the motivation for people to buy them.

This differs from Bitcoin, which is not issued by any company and has no central organization that does any work or promotion of the token.

The response from American cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex expresses the distinction between securities and other types of tokens:

“As a U.S.-based digital currency exchange, Bittrex is committed to incubating new blockchain technology projects and offering innovative, compliant digital tokens to our customers. Bittrex uses a robust digital token review process to ensure the tokens listed on the exchange are compliant with U.S. law and are not considered securities. Bittrex is committed to helping advance the United States’ global leadership in this emerging industry, and we look forward to continuing our proactive dialogue with the SEC and other regulators on how to build a secure, fully-regulated environment for blockchain that encourages innovation and economic growth.”

https://support.bittrex.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001525152-B...

They seem to be prepared to meet the SEC in court to argue that the assets they facilitate trading for are not securities.