Part of the Wells Notice is around the Coinbase Earn stacking service, which is staking ETH. That's what the SEC is going after and which Gensler can't even answer is a security or not.
ETH might not be a security, but staking ETH is almost definitely one.
Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security.
Asking 'Is Eth a security?' is asking the wrong question. Asking 'Is <some particular use of Eth> a security?' is the right question. Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip. It's really quite embarrassing.
> ETH might not be a security, but staking ETH is almost definitely one.
Ok, so if ETH isn't a security and staking ETH is a security, then the SEC should be able to provide a registration service for that, right? That's the problem, they can't seem to manage to do that.
> Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security.
Sorry, you lost me on that one.
> Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip.
He should have had a concise answer and acted a bit less flustered then. It was a yes/no question to a professional.
Dollars and orange trees aren't securities, but as soon as I start 'staking' dollars and orange trees into financial instruments which earn rewards, it becomes a security.
Asking 'Is Eth a security?' is asking the wrong question. Asking 'Is <some particular use of Eth> a security?' is the right question. Gensler was in the process of giving such an answer, and was interrupted ~40 times in that four-minute clip. It's really quite embarrassing.