The vast majority of arbitrage of fungible assets happens in commodities, not securities. The SEC regulates securities. The CFTC regulates commodities.
> Bitcoin is considered a commodity and is the underlying asset in bitcoin futures contracts… Bitcoin futures contracts — like other commodity futures contracts such as corn futures, market index futures, or gold futures — are regulated by the CFTC and must trade on CFTC-regulated exchanges.
Why not? It is highly litigated and still abundantly unclear whether certain cryptocurrencies are securities or commodities. That's the whole point of these legal battles. If it was clear, they would not be ongoing.
> In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them.
I am pretty sure you can get BTC from any exchange and sell it on any other exchange. Whereas, with stocks, you generally cannot as a retail investor.
That is, I suppose, what makes crypto a commodity at its core.
> The vast majority of arbitrage of fungible assets happens in commodities, not securities.
Yeah, I'm gonna say no to that. I don't have numbers but if total trading volume on commodities is anything more than a tiny fraction of stock/derivatives trading on any given day I eat my proverbial hat.
Regardless, "The CFTC needs to sue us, not the SEC" isn't the argument being made by Robinhood either.
jprete|1 year ago
ikmckenz|1 year ago
> Bitcoin is considered a commodity and is the underlying asset in bitcoin futures contracts… Bitcoin futures contracts — like other commodity futures contracts such as corn futures, market index futures, or gold futures — are regulated by the CFTC and must trade on CFTC-regulated exchanges.
https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/B...
siftrics|1 year ago
megadal|1 year ago
> In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them.
I am pretty sure you can get BTC from any exchange and sell it on any other exchange. Whereas, with stocks, you generally cannot as a retail investor.
That is, I suppose, what makes crypto a commodity at its core.
shemnon42|1 year ago
SkyPuncher|1 year ago
Today, you can spin up your own shit coin with basically a few clicks.
ajross|1 year ago
Yeah, I'm gonna say no to that. I don't have numbers but if total trading volume on commodities is anything more than a tiny fraction of stock/derivatives trading on any given day I eat my proverbial hat.
Regardless, "The CFTC needs to sue us, not the SEC" isn't the argument being made by Robinhood either.
siftrics|1 year ago
It does matter, because they aren't doing anything wrong if these crypto assets are considered commodities and not securities.
Also, just because a government agency is suing you, that doesn't mean it has any legal or moral imperative. I don't see your point.