Also, FWIW, reference [2] from my comment was about Ripple / XRP, which I figured if any crypto project was a security, they were, since it was linked to a for profit company. I was not surprised to see that they were charged.
Anyway, I'd love for the SEC to say BTC is not a security, when asked a direct question about it, however, they have not yet, which is one of the reasons why I don't agree that the regulatory framework is clear, yet.
Ethereum also did an ICO so it probably was a security to start with (Gary Gensler said most ICOs are probably securities), but then Ethereum became decentralized enough, so then it's probably not still considered a security. So where do we draw the line for new projects? If they aren't prosecuted within a certain amount of time, then they are fine?
This is what I mean. It's a nuanced discussion. I don't think there should be scams, and it would be great if the regulators protected against bad actors. I agree that new projects should not market themselves like stocks / securities. However, in my opinion, not all cryptos should be considered securities. Based on all this, would you consider Bitcoin and Ethereum to be a separate class of assets? This is what I'm trying to get at. We can't group all crypto into existing securities laws. There probably should be regulation, but let's be clear about which ones are and which ones aren't. I have yet to see that clarity from US regulators.