US Federal authorities have strengthened control over Ethereum. According to the Wall Street Journal, the financial authorities of the country are now in the process of discussion of assignment ETH status securities.

According to a WSJ source familiar with the situation, Ethereum is in a grey area of the law. The main reason for the discussion was the initial distribution alithina through ICO in July 2014. Then Ethereum was able to collect 31 000 BTC (about $18.3 million at the exchange rate at the time).

Because the collected funds were allocated for the development of the project, the authorities, according to sources the WSJ, I believe that it can be treated as a sale of unregistered stock; especially when you consider the fact that many investors probably bought tokens for speculative purposes, anticipating price growth.

In the case that ETH will be considered a security by law, Ethereum had to obtain a license in the Commission on securities and exchange Commission (SEC) before carrying out ICO.

Also the Supervisory authorities to carefully study the impact of the Ethereum Foundation on the cost alithina.

A former U.S. civil servant Gary Gensler (Gary Gensler) told the WSJ that the decision on ETH “there is no legal precedent.” During one of his speeches Gensler stated that the ETH can be considered as action “outside the law” — that is, not registered with the SEC. Earlier, however, Cointelegraph reported that Gesler sees the possibility of withdrawal from the status of Ethereum securities, since now tokens Mein. Final decision will be made by the working group consisting of members of the SEC and of the Commission on trade commodity futures (CFTC), on may 7.

The outcome of the meeting of the unpredictable. Despite the strict supervision, William, Hinman (Hinman William), Director of the SEC division of corporate Finance stated that his Department “is committed to a balanced approach” to the cryptocurrency and ICO.