The US is saying "we don't care if you market your product as a currency, all we see is a product. If you say it is redeemable for something, it actually better be or we fine you. But it doesn't matter to us if it is redeemable for anything, just make that match how you advertise it."
People care way more about this than government regulators do. The derivatives regulators looked at it, found something that affected the spot market based on confidence alone, and got their fine and a company agreement to match so people can be more objective about their confidence.
Consider that the etymology of 'dollar', coming from 'thaler' has always meant a fixed weight of metal. Yes, for me there is some irony there. We still call them dollars, not debt instruments or tally sticks. As you say the key points are redeemability and backing.
The US is saying "we don't care if you market your product as a currency, all we see is a product. If you say it is redeemable for something, it actually better be or we fine you. But it doesn't matter to us if it is redeemable for anything, just make that match how you advertise it."
People care way more about this than government regulators do. The derivatives regulators looked at it, found something that affected the spot market based on confidence alone, and got their fine and a company agreement to match so people can be more objective about their confidence.