In huge win for cryptocurrency, SEC says bitcoin and ether aren't securities

The world of cryptocurrency just got some much needed good news.

With the prices of bitcoin and ether on a steady downward trend, the Securities and Exchange Commission today provided hodlers with a flash of hope: Neither of the cryptocurrencies are considered securities.

So reports CNBC, which notes that the SEC's head of the Division of Corporate Finance, William Hinman, delivered the news at the San Francisco Yahoo All Markets Summit: Crypto conference. If the SEC had decided differently, then exchanges and markets would likely have faced some serious regulation.

And, well, no one in cryptoland likes regulation.

The announcement was celebrated by big names in both the Ethereum and Bitcoin space.

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Oh, also, it had quite the effect on price. Coindesk shows both ether and bitcoin spiking on the news.

But all this doesn't mean the SEC is washing its hands of the entire emerging industry. According to Hinman, many ICOs are in fact securities and will be on the receiving end of SEC regulatory action.

Interestingly, Yahoo News reports Hinman as explaining that simply calling something a coin or a token makes no difference in the eyes of his agency. More important is the extent of decentralization involved in the network in question.

"Over time," CNBC quotes him as saying, "there may be other sufficiently decentralized networks and systems where regulating the tokens or coins that function on them as securities may not be required."

So, you know, better hype up your blockchain project's decentralized attributes now. It may save you from the SEC's wrath later.