US Department Of Justice Calls Cryptos Commodities

[HAL1000]

https://bitcoinist.com/big-news-ripple-us-doj-calls-cryptos-commodities/

In recent court filings by the U.S. Department of Justice against Avraham Eisenberg, the DoJ refers to two cryptocurrencies as commodities. Eisenberg, who exploited the decentralized finance platform Mango Markets and made $67 million, was arrested yesterday in Puerto Rico and charged with market manipulation.

Reason To Cheer For Ripple?

For XRP investors and Ripple Labs, the indictment is interesting in that the U.S. Department of Justice calls the two cryptocurrencies CRV and MNGO commodities rather than securities. At no point do the DoJ lawyers refer to the cryptocurrencies as securities, nor do they refer to violations of securities law. For the Department of Justice, it thus appears that there is no dispute that neither token should be classified as a security. This stands in stark contrast to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who is not only leading the case against Ripple but has also opined on several occasions that pretty much every crypto token is a security. 

In the indictment, the Justice Department writes unequivocally of CRV and MNGO tokens as commodities. It states:

AVRAHAM EISENBEG, the defendant witifully and knowingly, directly and Indirectly, used […] in connection with swap, a contract of sale of a commodity in interstate and foreclosure commerce, and for future delivery on and subject to the rules of a registered entity, a manipulative and deceptive device and contrivance, in contravention of Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 180.1, […]

For Ripple, the DoJ may have provided another argument that the legal situation for cryptocurrencies is not as clear as the SEC always claims. Since both CRV and MNGO are designated as commodities, it is at least reasonable to assume that XRP is a commodity and not a security.

Remarkably, these documents were filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York, the same court where the case between Ripple and the SEC is taking place.

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The SEC and the DOJ are both arms of the US Government - so which one is right?

If these two agencies can be at odds, how can GG with a straight face, say it's all so clear?

NO MARKET PARTICIPANTS COULD BE SO SURE OF THE LEGALITIES WITH THE KIND OF CERTANITY THE CASE AGAINST RIPPLE HAS ALLEGED.

THE SEC HAVE OVER REACHED AND IS EXPLOITING LEGAL AMBIGUITY TO GRAB POWER AT THE EXPENSE OF INVESTORS AND GOOD COMPANIES TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING...

GG / JC / BH GO TO JAIL, YOU HAVE ALL PLAYED GAMES WITH THE MARKET FOR PERSONAL GAIN AND TO HELP PROTECT INCUMBENTS FROM FREE MARKET COMPETITION.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by HAL1000