CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam says a majority of cryptocurrencies, 70-80%, are non-securities. Behnam appeared before the  U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry’s Hearing on the Oversight of Digital Commodities on Wednesday.

Rostin Behnam, the chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has reiterated his belief that the CFTC is better placed as the agency to oversee crypto. The CFTC chair made the comments in a testimony during the  U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry’s Hearing on the Oversight of Digital Commodities on Wednesday. Behnam told lawmakers of the recent court rulings in Illinois that declared Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are commodities. “Just last week, a District Court in the Northern District of Illinois entered summary judgment in favor of the CFTC in a case involving fraud by an unregistered entity that promised steady returns in digital asset commodities such as Bitcoin and Ether. In its decision, the court re-affirmed that both Bitcoin and Ether are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act,” he said in a testimony. In the same manner, the CFTC chair noted that most of the cryptocurrencies in the market are not securities, with a percentage applicable to this being around 70-80%. Behnam also talked of the Commission’s regulatory efforts, particularly in bringing enforcement actions against individuals and entities that breach the commodities laws, including in the digital commodities market. The CFTC has over the past few years filed more than 135 digital commodity-related cases, with the lawsuits resulting in billions of dollars in penalties and restitution. While the CFTC continues to work with  law enforcement, there’s continued escalation of digital asset fraud and other violations, largely down to “accelerated and sustained adoption of digital assets by U.S. investors.”

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Ronaldinho is the latest soccer star to promote Water Coin on Instagram, a Solana-based meme coin Earlier this week, soccer legend Lionel Messi promoted Water Coin on his Instagram Stories The price of Water Coin rose nearly 40% to $0.0012 Water Coin claims it’s focusing on water-related issues and sustainable projects

Soccer legend Ronaldinho Gaúcho has become the latest to promote the Solana-based meme token Water Coin on his Instagram account. On social media, the Brazilian retired soccer star posted a story to his 76.6 million followers showing a photo of him with the Water Coin’s mascot peering over his shoulder. It also tagged the project’s Instagram account. Following Ronaldinho’s post, Water Coin’s price rose nearly 40% to $0.0012. The excitement didn’t last long, and at the time of publication, Water Coin’s price had levelled at around $0.00088, CoinMarketCap data shows. Ronaldinho’s post follows that of another football legend, Lionel Messi. Earlier this week, the Argentinian player promoted Water Coin on his Instagram Stories. Like Ronaldinho, Messi showed a picture of himself with the meme coin’s mascot peeking over his shoulder, along with tagging the project’s Instagram account. Notably, one of the exchanges listing the Water token is Bitget, a company Messi has been partnered with since 2022. Facing Criticism According to its website, the charity token “aims to have a net-positive impact on [the] real world with the help of charity.” However, it doesn’t state how it will achieve this. Despite the promotion from several well-known soccer players, some have met their posts with criticism. Taking to X, analyst @ericonomics wrote of Messi that this was the “third token scam” that he’s promoted, adding “this time it’s Water. They will probably rug soon so make yourself a favour and don’t buy that sh*t.” “The first one was Leafty, which was a rug (they removed the liquidity like 5 days later lol),” @ericonomics wrote. “The second one was PLANET, a slow rug that is like -90% since that promotion.” Similarly, this isn’t the first time Ronaldinho has been connected with a controversial crypto project. Last August, he appeared before a Brazilian parliamentary committee inquiry over an alleged $61m crypto pyramid scheme that used his likeness without permission. The scheme, “18kRonaldinho, used images of the soccer star in its marketing while promising investors a 2% daily return. During the inquiry, Ronaldinho denied any involvement, claiming he never partnered with the company.

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