The determination at the federal level that not all cryptocurrencies are securities is now filtering down to the state level.  

This is the third grant of meaningful regulatory relief by the CFTC staff in less than two weeks. (See also, " and ".")

None of these actions are material in the sense of changing the markets. Rather, to use the words of this no-action letter, they are all just responses to regulatory requirements that have not worked "as originally intended."

These actions are further demonstrations of a cultural shift at the financial regulatory agencies toward a pragmatic assessment of…

The adoption of any regulation is just a hypothesis that the regulation will make the world a better place, just as the start of a new business is a hypothesis that the business will make money. Lots of businesses fail, either right away, or over time as circumstances change. Likewise, not every rule is a success. They should be re-evaluated. This rule seems to be an example of a failed hypothesis. 

In its report, the Working Group builds on the core themes of the President's : the overarching goal is to achieve US leadership in technology (and, in this case, in payments).

One of the important "intellectual" leaps that the PWG makes is the recognition that cryptocurrencies are a new asset class, or at least a new product or technology. (Asset class may be too broad a term.) The prior Administration, and particularly the SEC, was limited in its thinking about digital assets…