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Is Ethereum (ETH) a Security? SEC Chair Still Won’t Say

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Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), still won’t give a straight answer on whether Ethereum (ETH) legally classifies as a security.

During a Thursday interview with Bloomberg, the chairman was asked to clear the regulatory fog surrounding the second-largest cryptocurrency, given that Ethereum spot ETF applications are now piling up on his agency’s desk.

Why Won’t Gensler Answer?

Gensler’s response was, as usual, vague – and re-directed listeners to the near-century-old legal precedent established called the Howey Test.

“On any one of these crypto tokens, it’s about the facts and circumstances as to whether the investing public is anticipating a profit based on the efforts of others,” he said seemingly amused after receiving another “crypto question.”

“We do have filings in front of us – I’m not gonna comment,” he added.

Gensler’s hesitancy to answer fuels an era of crypto market confusion dating back to 2018 when former SEC Director William Hinman published a speech espousing his personal view that Ethereum classifies as a commodity, rather than a security.

Since then, Gensler and the agency have denied making any official statements or proclamations regarding their views on ETH and avoided the question numerous times when asked.

They’ve also alleged that dozens of other top cryptos including Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) are securities in lawsuits against leading crypto trading platforms including Coinbase and Binance.

There’s reason to believe the agency views ETH differently, however. Much like Bitcoin, the SEC has approved trading of CME Ether futures. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, this implies that the asset is viewed as a commodity already.

Moreover, the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Rostin Benham has explicitly labeled ETH as a commodity for years, with several crypto-supportive members of Congress taking his side on the matter.

Testifying before a House committee on Wednesday, the chairman said that Prometheum – an SEC-approved crypto broker – could create more regulatory uncertainty if the SEC allows it to classify ETH as a security on its platform. He is working closely with Gensler on the matter.

“It would then put our registrants – our exchanges who list Ether as a futures contract – in non-compliance with SEC rules as opposed to CFTC rules,” Benham explained.

Crypto Is Still A Speculative Place

Though avoiding the actual question, Gensler made sure to re-emphasize that crypto is a “highly speculative asset class,” referencing Bitcoin’s volatility over the past week. He said:

“You should be conscious as the investing public that this is a bit of a rollercoaster ride on these volatile assets, and then the question is, how firms it the foundation?”

Upon approving Bitcoin spot ETFs to trade on public markets in January, Gensler noted that the SEC’s approval was “not an endorsement of Bitcoin,” and claimed that the asset is often used for financial crime.

Bitcoin is up 53% since the start of the year, briefly touching a new all-time high of $69,200 on Tuesday.

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Cryptocurrency

Ethereum Price Analysis: Is ETH Staging a Push Toward $2.8K or Facing a Crash to $2K?

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After breaking below the ascending flag pattern, Ethereum has retraced to retest the broken trendline. Should the selling at this level pressure intensify, a deeper decline toward the $2K support zone may follow.

By Shayan

The Daily Chart

ETH recently broke down from its ascending flag pattern, triggering a corrective phase. After finding strong support around the $2.1K level, the cryptocurrency bounced and retraced toward the broken trendline at $2.4K, where it now appears to be encountering resistance.

Despite the rebound, the lack of significant volatility and waning momentum around this key level suggests that buyers are exhausted. If the selling pressure intensifies here, ETH is likely to complete its pullback and extend its correction.

In this case, the $2K mark is emerging as the next key defensive zone where the bulls may attempt to regain control.

eth_price_chart_2706251
Source: TradingView

The 4-Hour Chart

Zooming into the 4-hour timeframe, ETH initially found strong support within the 0.5–0.618 Fibonacci retracement zone, a historically reliable level during corrections.

The sharp reaction from this range led to a quick move upward. However, the rally has now stalled precisely at the previous flag’s lower boundary, which currently acts as resistance near $2.4K.

This rejection increases the probability of another downward leg, unless the buyers are able to swiftly reclaim control. The $2.1K zone, which overlaps with the Fib support, remains a key battleground.

As long as this area holds, the market structure retains a bullish bias. If breached, however, it may pave the way for a deeper decline toward $2,000.

eth_price_chart_2706252
Source: TradingView

By Shayan

The funding rate metric serves as a crucial gauge of trader sentiment within the futures market. Typically, in a healthy and sustainable uptrend, funding rates increase steadily, reflecting growing interest from long position traders across both the perpetual futures and spot markets.

However, recent trends reveal a decline in Ethereum’s funding rates, signalling waning bullish momentum and potential buyer fatigue. This shift raises the probability of a short-term rejection and deeper corrective movement.

That said, as funding rates approach the neutral zone near zero, it may suggest a reset in leveraged positions, indicating that the market is cooling off. This environment often precedes renewed demand and could pave the way for a strong bullish continuation once the current consolidation phase concludes.

eth_funding_rates_chart_2706251
Source: CryptoQuant
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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Cryptocurrency

XRP Surpasses BTC, ETH in This Surprising Metric Despite SEC Lawsuit Roadblock

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TL:DR

  • Ripple’s lawsuit resolution against the US SEC will have to wait even longer as Judge Torres denied the two parties’ joint motion for an indicative ruling.
  • However, this seemingly negative development has turned the community bullish on XRP, according to data from Santiment.

As the analytics company informed, the bullish vs. bearish posts on social media in regards to the fourth-largest cryptocurrency have skyrocketed to a 17-day high.

Consequently, XRP has surpassed the two biggest digital assets by market cap, bitcoin and ether, both of which are performing a lot better in terms of price actions in the past week or so.

BTC managed to reclaim the $100,000 line after its brief hiatus below it and now sits at around $107,000 as the geopolitical environment in the Middle East improved. ETH also recovered from its substantial slump and is back to $2,400.

In contrast, XRP’s price has been trading downward for weeks and is currently below $2.1 after another 3-4% daily drop. The latest setback took place yesterday following Judge Torres’s decision to deny the joint motion filed by Ripple and the SEC for a quicker resolution in their lawsuit.

Nevertheless, it’s not all doom and gloom as the XRP token saw a major adoption announcement earlier this week, as you can check here.

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Cryptocurrency

Is Ethereum (ETH) Seriously Undervalued Right Now? Many Whales Bet On It

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Ethereum (ETH) began climbing again this week, along with the rest of the market. However, it remains trapped under the $2,879 level for now.

Even as it struggles to spearhead the much-anticipated “altseason,” its network activity is telling a louder story.

Historic Activity on Ethereum

On June 25, Ethereum recorded 1,750,940 confirmed transactions. This was the third-highest daily count in its history and breaking a months-long downward trend in on-chain activity.

The “Ethereum: Transaction Count (Total)” metric captures all confirmed network transactions, including ETH transfers, DeFi operations, smart contract executions, and DApp interactions, and gives a clear insight into real usage. Such high activity levels have not been seen since January 14, 2024, when the cryptocurrency set its all-time high record with 1,961,144 transactions before usage gradually declined.

The latest spike comes even as ETH’s price has shown volatility, ranging between and $2,111-$2,879 over the past month, as traders, DeFi protocols, and arbitrage bots actively adjust positions in real time. This divergence between price weakness and strong on-chain activity suggests a potential early signal of accumulation and renewed DeFi interest, even if it is not yet reflected in ETH’s market valuation.

Meanwhile, institutional and retail interest seems to be steady, with stable ETH holdings on exchanges and rising transaction volumes on Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, which continue to handle a significant share of Ethereum’s daily settlement activity.

CryptoQuant said that these developments point to deeper structural resilience in the network’s usage patterns.

“These developments reinforce Ethereum’s pivotal role in the broader crypto ecosystem and suggest that the network’s recent on-chain spike is not an isolated event, but part of a deeper structural recovery.”

Amid these signals of underlying strength, whale activity has emerged as another key indicator reflecting deep-pocketed confidence in Ethereum.

Whale Purchases Accelerate

Whales continue aggressive ETH accumulation, rapidly draining exchange supplies. Investor Ted Pillows highlighted one whale’s $8.91 million ETH purchase via Galaxy Digital yesterday, adding to $422 million in Ethereum amassed within a month.

These large-scale buys suggest mounting confidence among whales, even as overall market sentiment remains cautious.

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