Browne co-chairs the fintech practice of Cooley LLP, which participated in the drafting of recommendations to William Hinman that were incorporated into his speech about Ethereum. Here Browne states there is a “pretty healthy debate” as to whether XRP or ETH are securities. “The industry is struggling” over whether tokens are securities, he said, and that after November 2017 after a jump in BTC purchases, the SEC was indicating that even bitcoin “might be a security.”

“It really is a very difficult regulatory environment right now in the U.S.,” Browne said. “I think most of the market participants are hoping for a little more clarity.”

The Hinman speech, telling the markets that “putting aside the fundraising associated with the creation of ether … we believe that current offers and sales of ether are not securities transactions,” was one week later.

Source: @digitalassetbuy