CFTC Demands A Bigger Role In Regulating Crypto, SBF Agrees

The CFTC demands a bigger role when it comes to regulating crypto as the chairman of the agency Rostin Behnam argues that the agency is in the best position to regulate digital assets so let’s read further in our latest cryptocurrency news.

The CFTC demands a bigger role in regulating crypto and the chairman is pushing for his agency to take the leading role. He maintains that his agency is in a good position to provide market protection for the consumers and to reduce the risks in the space. Behnam made his case for expanding the CfTC authority in a letter to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and asserted that his agency follows the core principles that help to oversee a wide range of markets and that the crypto market is not an exception.

The dispute on how crypto should be classified is a huge source of tension between the US regulators and the industry players. As CFTC demands a bigger role, the SEC is still confident that the laws could be adequate and exchanges such as Coinbase continue to argue new federal regulators have to be created especially for cryptocurrencies. This is also unlikely. According to a report suggesting that the Biden Administration plans an executive order to organize research and regulation of crypto, argues that that will be solved through the pre-existing agencies. Behnam emphasized the need for better regulation given the number of retail participants that are involved in crypto trading:

“In my opinion, there are important principles missing from the current regulatory framework applicable to digital asset markets that we see in other federally regulated markets, particularly ones that primarily cater to retail investors.”

Earlier, Behnam testified before Senate and elaborated his position where other industry executives like FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried attended. Behnam added:

“The digital asset market, which at present is most directly supervised through state money transmitter licenses, is unique, and presents many novel issues for the CFTC, given our limited authority to police these volatile markets.”

Bankman Fried agreed with Behnam and said that he prefers the CFTC to provide more regulatory clarity adding:

“I would love to see the CFTC play a more active role.”

However, a huge problem emerges as SEC Chairman Gary Gensler feels the same way as Behnam does for his own agency, wanting more control of crypto markets and deeming most crypto as securities. Gensler said:

“There are thousands of these projects, basically trying to raise money from the public so that they can back an entrepreneurial idea. That part’s all right—that, in fact, is called innovation—but it’s about bringing it into the securities laws.”