Yesterday morning, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, came on CNBC's Squawk Box to talk about cryptocurrencies, saying:

"Many of these financial assets, crypto assets, have the key attributes of a security... some like bitcoin, and that's the only one, Jim, I'm going to say, because I'm not going to talk about any of these tokens, my predecessors and others have said they're a commodity."

So... only bitcoin is a commodity, in Gensler's view?

• He was talking about collaborating with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at the time.

Why it matters: He pointedly declined to name any cryptocurrency other than the original, notable because the market has been operating under the assumption that there is a sort of wink-and-nod understanding that ether is also not a security, Brady writes.

• Other token communities have also been cautiously optimistic that their own assets might qualify for treatment as a commodity.
• For example, Hiro, the company behind the issuance of the STX token, notified the SEC in early 2021 that it would no longer treat its cryptocurrency as a security.
• Securities can only be traded by accredited investors (basically, rich people) unless they are on public markets (such as stocks), which is an expensive pain.

The SEC did not respond to a request for comment and clarification from Axios.

Zooming out: In 2018, William Hinman, then the director of the SEC's division of Corporate Finance, gave a speech in which he expressed his opinion that the coin of the world's second most valuable blockchain, Ethereum's ether, is no longer a security. He said:

• "Based on my understanding of the present state of ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of ether are not securities transactions."
• Elsewhere in the speech, he had explained: "If the network on which the token or coin is to function is sufficiently decentralized ... the assets may not represent an investment contract."

The intrigue: That speech has been a point of contention in the SEC's 2020 case against Ripple, the originator of the XRP cryptocurrency, currently the seventh most valuable.

• "The question of whether Hinman’s speech reflected his opinion or the agency’s is settled ... Although Hinman and the SEC admit that agency staff discussed his speech, it appears that this speech was 'merely peripheral to actual policy formation,'" Judge Sarah Netburn ruled in that case.
• Knowing that the SEC has a heavy caseload, the industry reads closely any sign of cases they are likely not to take on.

Our thought bubble: This is court intrigue. Both President Biden's executive order and the Lummis-Gillibrand Senate bill bypass the SEC to sort out U.S. crypto policy.

• It looks like Chair Gensler is trying to protect his turf in D.C.

Go deeper.

Crypto lender Celsius Network has not resumed withdrawals, among other services, for its customers amid market turmoil... yet the firm's coin CEL, from June 11 to a recent peak on June 21, rose roughly 500%, Crystal writes.

• The firm co-founded and led by Alex Mashinsky, who is famous for contributing to VOIP, announced the halt in a memo June 12.

The intrigue: Celsius has been quiet since. Neither the firm nor Mashinsky has spoken publicly since the firm's last note on June 19 assuring customers that stabilizing operations was a work-in-progress.

• The crypto lender has reportedly hired restructuring attorneys as well as advisers to chart its path forward.

🤨 Between the lines: CEL coin buyers appear to be betting on a revival when, or if, Celsius emerges. And short sellers were likely squeezed.

Goldman Sachs showed a preference for Robinhood's stock over Coinbase's earlier this week, Crystal writes.

• Stock analyst Will Nance in a report yesterday morning said that the trading platform's stock showed upside in the coming 12 months, while the crypto firm's stock had room to fall.
• He cut Coinbase shares to a sell rating from neutral, while raising Robinhood's rating to a neutral from a previous sell.

Why it matters: Coinbase's stock closed 11% lower on the day, while Robinhood's shares closed 14% higher — albeit with a big assist from an M&A rumor.

• (FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly having internal discussions about buying Robinhood.)

Details: Coinbase's business could be hampered if coin prices don't move much from current levels, according to Goldman's Nance.

• He says the crypto exchange's revenues are likely to fall 60% in 2022 on a year-over-year basis.
• Nance also said that Coinbase will have to cut expenses further, after laying off 18% of its workforce.
• The exchange's recent decision to discontinue its Pro trading, unifying services under one umbrella, could lead to fee compression, he added.

What they're saying: "We expect near-term revenues to be largely a function of broader crypto prices and volatility," Nance said in the report.

• "Assuming flat crypto prices from here, we expect activity levels to remain subdued," he added.
• That means crypto market capitalization stays roughly at $900 billion and daily average trading volume is $1.8 billion in the third quarter, the latter of which would be in line with June trends, to date.
• "We believe [Coinbase] will likely need to reduce costs further in order to right-size its cost structure for a period of low crypto prices and volatility," he wrote.

Big picture: Robinhood's mass-market reach in the U.S., among other things, makes it a more "formidable threat" to Coinbase's premium pricing, Nance said.

⏰ Voyager Digital issued a notice of default to Three Arrows Capital. (Decrypt)

☔️ Coinflex, an exchange, issued a new token that pays 20% returns, to raise funds to cover a $47 million shortfall by a customer in default. (CNBC)

👥 Exchange Huobi Global said layoffs are a possibility. (The Block)

🙈 Yuga Labs is suing conceptual artist Ryder Ripps for trademark infringement, among other things. (The Defiant)

A little while back we devoted a newsletter to watching out for crypto scams. One point we made in that: Giveaways are all scams, Brady writes.

• Be smart: They are.

Driving the news: One intrepid Redditor decided to dig into these scams so you don't have to. He got out his old computer, fired up a phony email and did what you dare not: He clicked the link! 🙀

• It's worth having a look at what he found. The scammers do a nice job of making it feel legit long enough for a mark to get excited.

But then there's a twist.