This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, August 22, I'm Caleb Brown.

Regulators, gotta regulate, but in the case of the myriad

cryptocurrencies that are out there, are those currencies really securities?

Cato's Jack Solowie and Jennifer Shulp have developed a proposed framework

as Congress looks at how to or if to regulate crypto.

It's now available at Cato.org.

When we have regulators at the federal level

that are arguing, no, no, no no no no we have ownership of the

regulations governing crypto we have at least several agencies that have

attempted to issue regulations and they don't necessarily jibe with one another.

And there is a core question here, which is what is the stuff that you're trying to regulate and a lot of agencies are saying it seems

that cryptocurrencies are different things and they don't appear to fit neatly within any one of these categories that federal regulators

would like to use to hang their hat on when it comes time to regulate.

So Jennifer, let me start with you, is our

cryptocurrency's securities for the purpose of federal regulation? So the SEC says yes. Most crypto, if not all crypto with the exception of

Bitcoin is a security. Gary Gensler has said this time and time again. But Gary Gensler has said this time and time again, but Gary Gensler is not right and he shouldn't be right.

Jack and I have proposed a framework that takes a much closer question using the current law and

regulations to determine when crypto is in fact a security.

And that test for us hinges on whether a crypto project

is decentralized.

Let Jack talk a little bit more about what that means.

All right, Jack, so, you know, regulators would like to regulate.

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