SEC: Won't change definition of security to include cryptocurrencies - CNBC

Speaking live on CNBC, Jay Clayton, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, said that they would not make any changes to the traditional definition of a security to make an exception for cryptocurrencies.

"Cryptocurrencies: These are replacements for sovereign currencies, replace the dollar, the euro, the yen with bitcoin. That type of currency is not a security," Clayton explained.

Commenting on the classification of digital assets, "a token, where I give you my money, and you go off and make a venture, and in return for giving you my money I say 'you can get a return' that is a security, and we regulate that. We regulate the offering of that security and regulate the trading of that security," he said.