ETH Up 4% Despite the SEC Claiming Jurisdiction on Ethereum Transactions

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) has shown a 4% price jump in the last 24 hours despite a controversial claim by the SEC over Ethereum transactions.

On Monday, September 19, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against crypto influencer Ian Balina for failing to register his digital assets before his 2018 ICO offering.

However, upon further reading the fingerprint, crypto observers noted that the SEC was concerned as Balina’s crypto transactions happened. However, the SEC also noted that the entire Ethereum network falls under the U.S. government’s purview. In its filing, the SEC noted that:

The ETH sent to Balina was “validated by a network of nodes on the Ethereum blockchain, which are clustered more densely in the United States than in any other country. As a result, those transactions took place in the United States.”

Currently, there are 45% of the Ethereum nodes currently running in the United States. As per data from Etherscan, the second largest density of nodes is in Germany at 19%. But the SEC seems to suggest that just because the U.S. is dominating the overall ETH nodes, the securities agency can have its jurisdiction over the global ETH network.

ETH Price Gains 4%

After a strong sell-off over the weekend, the ETH price has gained 4% in the last 24 hours and now trading above $1,350 levels. It seems that the strong comments by the SEC haven’t deterred investors’ confidence.

Also, the ETH price jump comes as the U.S. market showed strength after last week’s major sell-off. On Monday, the U.S. market closed in the green ahead of the FOMC meeting this week. Investors are already predicting a 75 basis points rate hike to control inflation. But the Fed can also go further and announce a 100 basis points rate hike to tame the soaring inflating.

Note that after the Merge, SEC chair Gary Gensler had recently hinted that Ethereum staking could trigger securities laws.