Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, a managing director at JPMorgan, believes the discharge of the Hinman docs within the Ripple vs. SEC case will affect crypto regulation. Panigirtzoglou acknowledged this doc launch is probably going to begin a race for different cryptocurrency tasks to develop into extra decentralized and look “more like ethereum” to keep away from being labeled as securities.
JPMorgan Managing Director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou: Hinman Docs Would possibly Spark Decentralization Race
Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, managing director at JPMorgan, has lately examined the impact that the discharge of the Hinman docs, a collection of inside discussions and emails the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) had earlier than the 2018 speech of Former SEC Official Willian Hinman, could have on future crypto regulation.
To Panigirtzoglou, who additionally serves as cross asset market strategist at JPMorgan, the speech will affect how cryptocurrency regulation will likely be carried out finally by the U.S. Congress “in a way that ethereum would avoid being designated as security.”
Panigirtzoglou stated:
Senior management at SEC didn’t imagine that ether was a safety in 2018 … SEC officers had reservations about Hinman together with a direct assertion on ether in his speech as a result of ‘it would be difficult for the agency to take a different position on ether in the future.’
The Ethereum Dilemma
The JPMorgan strategist believes one among Hinman’s declarations — which declares that “if the network on which the token or coin is to function is sufficiently decentralized, the assets may not represent an investment contract,” — explains why the SEC has kept away from performing in opposition to ethereum whereas nonetheless focusing on its rivals this yr.
Panigirtzoglou explains that ethereum may very well be put in the identical class as bitcoin to be regulated by the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) as a commodity; nevertheless, he states that these “sufficiently decentralized” belongings may additionally be put in one other class that “would involve more restrictions and investor protections than currently envisaged for commodities but less onerous than those required for securities.”
It doesn’t matter what is determined in that regard, Panigirtzoglou commented that the Hinman docs will likely be a catalyst to convey extra decentralization to the crypto area, as they “would likely intensify the race among major cryptocurrencies and their respective blockchains to become more decentralized and look even more like ethereum in order to avoid being designated as securities.”
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has additionally lately criticized the SEC’s stance on crypto enforcement after the discharge of the Hinman docs. Garlinghouse stated that even with this inside debate, the SEC “weaponized the lack of regulatory clarity,” deciding to charge Ripple for conducting an unregistered securities providing.
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