The US is approaching a defining moment for cryptocurrency innovation

Federal regulators are grappling with a simple question: should the world’s second-most-valuable cryptocurrency, be regulated like a stock?
Behind the scenes: The wall street journal reports that regulators are examining whether ether, the currency native to the Ethereum blockchain, should be subject to the same strict regulations as stocks and bonds.
The central question: It all hinges on whether Ethereum’s developers are in a position to influence its currency’s value. People in the “no” camp argue that the decentralized computer network the currency is based on prevents that. At MIT Technology Review’s Business of Blockchain event last week, Gary Gensler, former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, argued in the affirmative.
Is crypto winter coming? Also last week, the New York Times reported that a group of venture capitalists has lobbied the US Securities and Exchange Commission to create a “safe harbor” for some currencies. Whichever way it goes, billions of dollars are at stake.