Regulators' First Official Stance? Bitcoin is More Like Gold Than a Security!

At the Bitcoin 2026 Conference, Commodity Futures Trading Commission official Mike Selig shared his early experiences with Bitcoin.
He said he first read the Bitcoin white paper around 2011 and then gradually delved deeper. By 2013–2014, when he joined the regulatory agency, they realized that Bitcoin was not like traditional securities.
In his view, Bitcoin is more like a decentralized commodity asset, with its price not controlled by any individual or institution, but entirely determined by market supply and demand. This is more similar to commodities like gold, silver, and oil.
It is precisely because of this property that regulatory agencies later became some of the first to establish federal regulatory frameworks for crypto assets, and allowed Bitcoin futures contracts to be traded on regulated exchanges.
He also revealed that the U.S. Congress is currently pushing new related legislation, which, once passed, will further expand regulatory authority and establish a clearer, more stable set of rules for crypto assets.
In the crypto world, technology drives innovation, while rules determine how far the industry can go.
When a new asset is recognized by time, the market, and regulations simultaneously, it truly matures. 🚀