Experts argue SEC cannot claim jurisdiction over Ethereum transactions

Several experts have disagreed with the U.S. SEC’s claim that it has jurisdiction over Ethereum transactions because there are more ETH nodes in the country than any other. In its charges against crypto promoter Ian Balina, the SEC said several U.S.-based investors participated in an investment pool that Ethereum network nodes validated.

The regulator argued that since these nodes “are clustered more densely in the United States than in any other country,” the transactions happened in the country. The SEC’s jurisdiction claim sets a dangerous precedence for the crypto industry as assets whose nodes are densely clustered in the U.S. could face this overreach in the future. With concerns about censorship currently in the air, U.S. regulators having jurisdiction over Ethereum itself could make it even easier to directly censor the network instead of just pressuring the validators.