US Judge Rules Two Altcoins Are Commodities in CFTC Case

In a significant ruling for the cryptocurrency industry, a US judge has decided that two lesser-known altcoins, Olympus (OHM) and KlimaDAO (KLIMA), are commodities.

The decision comes as part of a larger Ponzi scheme case involving Oregon resident Sam Ikkurty and his companies. Ikkurty is accused of defrauding investors by promising high returns on investments in digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, OHM, and KLIMA.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had argued that OHM and KLIMA should be considered commodities because they are traded on futures exchanges and have similar characteristics to other commodities, such as gold and oil.

In her ruling, Judge Mary Rowland of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois agreed with the CFTC’s arguments. She noted that both OHM and KLIMA are traded on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that are similar to futures exchanges, and that they have similar price movements to other commodities.

The ruling is significant because it could have implications for the regulation of cryptocurrencies. If more cryptocurrencies are classified as commodities, they could be subject to stricter regulation by the CFTC.

The ruling is also likely to have an impact on the Ponzi scheme case against Ikkurty. The fact that OHM and KLIMA are now considered commodities could make it easier for the CFTC to prove that Ikkurty was engaged in fraud.