While Bitcoin and Ether are widely believed to be commodities based on SEC and CFTC comments and actions, other assets supported by BlockFi such as Chainlink and Uniswap have less clarity. If the cease and desist is eventually signed, it could be precedent-setting for how states could deal with other yet to be categorized assets.

The draft statement goes on to highlight how decentralized finance platforms, known in the industry as DeFi, do not offer FDIC or SIPC insurance like traditional banks and brokerages. However, while BlockFi offers similar savings and lending platforms to those that operate on top of decentralized ledgers, such as Uniswap or Compound, it is a centralized company