Regulators are giving increasing thought to treating cryptocurrencies as securities, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal.
And fears that the same rules that apply to stocks will impact Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, and other cryptos sent prices down in mid-morning trading Tuesday. Major cryptocurencies were off anywhere from 4% to 9% as of 11 a.m., according to CoinMarketCap.
Ethereum is down 5.4% as the Journal story suggests that some regulators believe the crypto’s 2014 creation was “probably an illegal securities sale.”