In US all cryptocurrencies are treated as commodities and regulated by Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act but when Ethereum switches to Proof of Stake they will be regulated as security by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and all "stake" holders will need to register their stakes and comply with the laws that govern the Securities Industry[1].
Under the US law "security" is "The term “security” means any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement etc."[2]
Ethereum falls under this since it is "profit-sharing agreement", it is an investment(stake) which allows other investors(stakeholders) to profit off of that owned security.
Proof of stake cryptocurrency allows stakeholders to profit by holding their coins(stake) and if they do not comply with all aforementioned security laws(reporting, market controls etc.) all their coins(stake) can be seized and Etherum can be shut down by SEC as an unregistered security.
That's simply false. When you stake you're being rewarded for your work securing the network, no different than mining. Further, if you do not stake you do not "profit".
If you "stake" you invest and you are a stakeholder if you do not "stake" you are simply a user of Ethereum and all investments, stakes and stakeholders need to be regulated in order to protect investors and market. Cryptocurrencies and crypto tokens are not outside the law in particular not outside of financial and capital market regulation laws.
Under the US law "security" is "The term “security” means any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, security-based swap, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement etc."[2]
Ethereum falls under this since it is "profit-sharing agreement", it is an investment(stake) which allows other investors(stakeholders) to profit off of that owned security.
Proof of stake cryptocurrency allows stakeholders to profit by holding their coins(stake) and if they do not comply with all aforementioned security laws(reporting, market controls etc.) all their coins(stake) can be seized and Etherum can be shut down by SEC as an unregistered security.
[1] https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/investing-ba...
[2] https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:15%20section:...