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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler did not give a direct answer when asked whether Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, is a security or a commodity at a congressional oversight hearing on Tuesday.

See related story: CFTC chair calls Ethereum a commodity, in contrast to SEC chair Genslers position

Gensler directly addressed the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) for the first time since October 2021, which was before the collapse of FTX and crypto-friendly banks, including Signature, Silicon Valley Bank, and Silvergate.

Gensler did not give a clear and direct answer to Congressman Patrick McHenry, the committee chairman, who asked if Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is a security.

Actually, all securities are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act. Its that we are excluded commodities. But I would agree that a security cannot be also an excluded commodity and an included commodity, responded Gensler.

Regulators and prosecutors have held contrasting views on how to classify Ether. The Attorney General of New York recently called it a security, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam argued that it is a commodity.

Gensler hinted on multiple occasions that he may view cryptocurrencies based on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, such as Ether, as securities.

In May 2022, Gensler publicly labeled Bitcoin, the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as a commodity.

Gensler told the HFSC on Tuesday that the SEC needs more resources and bodies to regulate the crypto asset class.

Late last month, Gensler testified before the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and requested US$2.4 billion in funding from Congress for the agencys operations, which includes its cryptocurrency crackdown.

See related story: SEC chair Gensler: No plans to ban crypto, says its up to Congress

(Updates to fifth and eighth graph)

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SECs Gary Gensler dodges question on whether Ethereum is a security - Yahoo Finance

Ethereum prices are free-falling less than 24 hours after Gary Gensler, the chairperson of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was put totaskon whether ETH, the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, was a security or a commodity.

That Gensler failed to clarify the status of ETH before the House Financial Services Committee on April 18 can be problematic.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, the committee chair, pressed Gensler to state whether ETH was a commodity or a securitymeaning the asset must be regulated by the SEC and engaging entities must register to transact.

However, Gensler failed to answer the question saying he didnt want to pre-judge. This statement is despite the SEC taking enforcement actions and serving Wells Notices to several cryptocurrency companies in the past few months.

How the SEC will react to the House Finance Services Committees demands remains unclear. In the meantime, without clarity and the SECdemandingplatform offering staking services to register, ETH and tokens of proof-of-stake networks would likely remain under pressure.

When writing on April 19, ETH prices have fallen below the psychological $2,000 level, dropping 8% in the last few hours. It comes after ETH prices peaked at around $2,140 on April 14, a few days after the activation of the Shanghai Upgrade on the Ethereum mainnet.

Shanghai was a highly anticipated update that allows validators and stakers to withdraw their coins from the Beacon Chain.

From the Ethereum daily chart, the collapse of prices on April 19 has unwound the gains of April 14. It continues to heap pressure on buyers from last week.

Still, even at spot rates, the uptrend remains firm. ETH is up 40% from mid-March and 72% from December 2022 lows.

Whether this trend will continue and Ethereum buyers flow back depends on the reaction of prices in the next few trading session. The key reaction points going forward are April 2023 highs at $2,140, acting as resistance; and $1,900 on the lower end.

While the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have confirmed Bitcoin to be a commodity, the silence from the SEC on ETHs status could negatively impact ETH and how conservative investors perceive the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Institutional investors often conduct their due diligence so they dont have exposure to unregistered securities. The SEC is yet to issue clarity on the precise classification of ETH, which is negative for the coin.

Feature Image From Canva, Chart From TradingView

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Ethereum Crashing Hours After SEC Head Failed To Clarify ETHs Security Status - NewsBTC

Bitcoins price dropped by over 4.5% Wednesday morning in the space of a few hours, reaching new weekly lows of $29,158, per data from CoinGecko. At present, Bitcoin is trading at around $29,275, down over 2% on the day.

The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies fell at a similar pace with Bitcoin, dropping by 3.7% over the last 24 hours to $1.27 trillion. Ethereum (ETH) also broke below its $2,000 psychological level, and is currently down 6% in the last 24 hours, trading at $1,975.

While there were no immediate catalysts to explain the price crash, gold also experienced a 1.57% drop around the same period, suggesting that the declines can be correlated.

BTC/USD (top) and Gold hourly price chart. Source: Trading View

On April 14, the U.S. Federal Reserve leaned toward another 25 basis point hike in its upcoming May policy rate meeting, strengthening the dollar and putting pressure on gold and Bitcoin.

The news restricted a crypto market uptrend during the weekend, as Bitcoins price dropped to lows of $29,380 on Monday. While there was a brief recovery above $30,000 the following day, a simultaneous drop in gold and Bitcoin suggests that the market may still be attempting to price the interest rate hike.

The price drop caused a total of $250 million in liquidations across the entire crypto market over the past 24 hours, with the majority of the orders being long, according to Coinglass data. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and XRP accounted for over 40% of the liquidated amount, with the rest of the liquidations distributed across the entire market.

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Over $250 Million in Liquidations as Bitcoin, Ethereum Slip - Decrypt

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MEV bot responsible for 7% of total gas on Ethereum network in 24 hours - CryptoSlate

A new cryptocurrency called Pepe Coin was introduced this month and has attracted the interest of investors. In the past 24 hours, Pepe Coin has risen by almost 300%. CHAD is no exception, as the coin is up by over 80% during the same period.

Investors are buying up the token fervently, with the hope that it could follow the success stories of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. In the hope of making millions, sandwich bots are front-running traders who are getting their hands on Pepe Coin and CHAD.

Also read: Crypto.com Introduces Shiba Inu (SHIB) Trading Contest for the Community

A sandwich attack involves the exploitation of a users transaction, which is strategically placed between two other transactions for the purpose of manipulating and earning profits. Bots carry out this attack by front-running, buying the same asset from the victim, and then selling it for a slightly elevated price to the same victim.

These types of attacks are usually not good for the network or the user. However, the recent popularity of Pepe Coin and CHAD has alerted the bot, especially a wallet named Jaredfromsubway.eth. The user has spent over $2 million on Ethereum gas fees alone to carry out sandwich attacks.

Data from Dune Analytics reveals that the Ethereum gas fees have spiked as a result, spiking almost ten times higher than those of last week. Jaredfromsubway.eth has also emerged as the top gas fee spender on the network in the past 24 hours.

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Ethereum Fees Surge as Sandwich Bots Tailgate Traders of Pepe ... - Watcher Guru