TechFlow news, September 11 — According to Cointelegraph, the Digital Chamber, an advocacy organization for cryptocurrency and blockchain, issued a statement on Wednesday calling on the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would clearly define certain types of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as consumer goods and exclude them from the jurisdiction of federal securities laws. The move responds to reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may be preparing enforcement action against NFT marketplace OpenSea.
Previous report, OpenSea's CEO confirmed in August 2024 having received a Wells notice from the SEC, which typically signals that the agency is considering enforcement measures. In its statement, the Digital Chamber characterized the SEC's approach as "regulatory overreach" against the digital asset industry.
The Digital Chamber urged lawmakers to explicitly clarify within the U.S. legal framework that NFTs are not "financial products" and should not be classified as securities under SEC oversight. The group criticized the SEC and its chair, Gary Gensler, for adopting an "enforcement-over-regulation" strategy toward the NFT market, arguing that such an approach, combined with congressional inaction, creates significant uncertainty for the entire industry.
The Chamber emphasized: "The primary design intent of most NFT applications is not as investment contracts or tools for financial speculation. Even when consumers occasionally profit from reselling NFTs, this behavior resembles transactions involving traditional collectibles or artworks. Therefore, these digital assets should be classified as consumer goods, not securities."
