Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum (ETH) and founder of ConsenSys, says there is little chance that U.S. financial regulators will call $ETH a security.
During a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Lubin was asked his thoughts on the possibility of $ETH being labeled as a security with Ethereum’s transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) model.
He said,
I think it’s as likely, and would have the same impact, as if Uber was made illegal.
Lubin continued, claiming that $ETH being labeled as a security would lead to a “tremendous outcry” from the crypto community, in addition to “different politicians and certain regulators.”
Lubin’s reply was in direct contrast to the comments made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, who said last September that Ethereum’s transition to PoS may require greater scrutiny as a security. Gensler compared staking coins to a process that allowed the investing public to obtain “profits based on the efforts of others.”
Despite Gensler’s position, Lubin claimed that he had participated in crypto talks with the SEC and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) “for many years.”
Lubin continued,
They thought back then that everything was a security. We — I think — helped them significantly understand lots of tokens are not securities, and then they went away and Gary and team now think almost everything’s a security.
Lubin concluded by saying that the court system in America would ultimately “be supportive” of arguments against $ETH’s status as a security.
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