Bitcoin is getting a pass mostly because nobody has any control over Bitcoin. There might be a loose community project, but Bitcoin is basically frozen in its current state, with no innovation. It's really hard to argue there is a common enterprise when there isn't really an enterprise at all.
> ETH foundation ICO might be the biggest mistake they ever made
It doesn't really matter if the Eth foundation did an ICO in the past or not, the simple fact that they are a coordinated project with a strong leadership structure who exercise quite a bit of control over the future of Eth is a strong indication that an "enterprise" exists.
The main reason why SEC are hedging their bets over ETH is that they don't actually know if it's a security. It's not the SEC who defines what's a security or not (though they often offer advice). The definition of "security is actually defined by the courts, so the only way to know either way is a court case.
And the SEC clearly wants to create some legal precedent by prosecuting cases that are much more obvious.
Also... the status of something being a security isn't necessarily static.
Just because Bitcoin is considered not a security now doesn't mean it will never be considered a security. If the bitcoin miners decided to band together and take active control over the direction of bitcoin innovation, then its current excuse would evaporate. If they transformed it into something that was obviously a security, then no amount of "But the SEC previously said bitcoin wasn't as security" will protect it.
> Just because Bitcoin is considered not a security now doesn't mean it will never be considered a security. If the bitcoin miners decided to band together and take active control over the direction of bitcoin innovation, then its current excuse would evaporate.
This is a messed up logic. Of course, if you changed the fundamentals of Bitcoin, the consequences will also change. But saying that "Bitcoin is considered not a security now doesn't mean it will never be considered a security" implies that the same Bitcoin can potentially be considered a security. Which is an entirely different premise.
> ETH foundation ICO might be the biggest mistake they ever made
It doesn't really matter if the Eth foundation did an ICO in the past or not, the simple fact that they are a coordinated project with a strong leadership structure who exercise quite a bit of control over the future of Eth is a strong indication that an "enterprise" exists.
The main reason why SEC are hedging their bets over ETH is that they don't actually know if it's a security. It's not the SEC who defines what's a security or not (though they often offer advice). The definition of "security is actually defined by the courts, so the only way to know either way is a court case.
And the SEC clearly wants to create some legal precedent by prosecuting cases that are much more obvious.
Also... the status of something being a security isn't necessarily static.
Just because Bitcoin is considered not a security now doesn't mean it will never be considered a security. If the bitcoin miners decided to band together and take active control over the direction of bitcoin innovation, then its current excuse would evaporate. If they transformed it into something that was obviously a security, then no amount of "But the SEC previously said bitcoin wasn't as security" will protect it.