Emboldened Crypto Participants Shrug Off SEC’s Probe of Ethereum

The digital-asset world is going about business as usual despite some worrisome issues that may be raised by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s probe of the Ethereum Foundation, the organization that supports the second-biggest cryptocurrency.

The unspecified investigation highlights the long-running debate over whether Ether, a token used on the blockchain, is a security. If declared as such, that would make the token commonly referred to as ETH subject to SEC guidelines that many in the industry have bristled against. Even so, Ether has gained about 5% since Tuesday.

That’s a big change from when the threat of pending ...