Former commissioner of the United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Dan Berkovitz, has suggested that Ethereum's native Ether (ETH) token could be both a commodity and a security. This is due to the overlapping legal definitions of commodities and securities, meaning that an asset can be classified as both.

The ongoing confusion over Ether's legal status comes from conflicting statements from the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the former repeatedly calling Ether a commodity and the latter not providing a designated legal category.

Sullivan & Cromwell partner Collin Lloyd has criticised the SEC's claim that everything excluding Bitcoin should be designated a "security" status under federal securities law.