For the first time, a federal judge has upheld that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are commodities and thus subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
BITCOIN & CRYPTOCURRENCIES ARE COMMODITIES
U.S. Federal Judge from the Eastern District of New York, Jack Weinstein, ruled on Tuesday that cryptocurrencies should be treated as commodities, reports CNBC.
The ruling is a landmark as this is the first time that a court upheld the CFTC’s jurisdictional assertion over cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Previously, the CFTC had stated that cryptocurrencies should come under the scope of the commodities regulator.
“CFTC holds that bitcoin and other virtual currencies are a commodity covered by the commodity exchange act,” the agency said in a statement back in September 2015.
Now, the ruling adds some much-needed clarity to cryptocurrency, as well as its related futures and derivatives markets, which launched at the end of last year.
Learn more:
http://bitcoinist.com/judge-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-commodities/
