SEC Peirce Comments: CFTC Charges Are Message To The Industry

The Commissioner of SEC Peirce comments on the latest developments with the CFTC charges against BitMEX and said that this is only a message to the exchange as well as the entire crypto industry, as we see more today in our cryptonews.

Hester Peirce, the SEC commissioner asserted that a BTC ETF will allow people to get more exposure to the asset but they didn’t reveal if this product will be approved soon. She believes that the charges against BitMEX brought by the CFTC were a loud and clear message for the exchange and for the industry. In a recent podcast, SEC Peirce comments on the Bitcoin ETF could be beneficial to all parties but didn’t say more if such a product will see the light of day soon.

As per the reports, the US Commodity and Futures Trading Commission charged the owners of the popular BTC derivatives exchange BitMEX with illegally operating the derivatives platform. While speaking on the Unchained podcast with Laura Shin, the Commissioner Peirce received a question about the current BitMEX controversy even though the Securities Exchange Commission was not involved.

She averted the question saying it was not her jurisdiction (with other words) as she noted that similar issues could harm the entire industry. moreover, she said that the regulators are sending clear messages to the companies that will fail to comply with the necessary anti-money laundering and AML requirements:

 “I think that the message has been coming to the industry fairly loud and clear on the AML/KYC front, and I’m sure it will continue.”

While speaking about the new BitMEX charges she asserted that the new US users are getting involved in a product or service and that there “is going to be an enforcement of US laws. So that’s what it thinks it’s probably what we see here with BitMEX.” One of the most discussed topics in the crypto community with a potential release of a BTC exchange-traded fund. Numerous industry companies applied with the SEC over the past few years to launch an ETF with a success rate being zero. Most applications were rejected by the Commission while the others are withdrawn.

Being the SEC Commissioner, she got a lot of questions about the future chances of approving a BTC ETF. Shin asked if the recent developments in the UK where the FCA banned the selling of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded nodes, to retail customers will affect the decision of the SEC. Peirce didn’t give quite a definite answer  but said:

 “In the US, we have a tradition of believing that people should be free to make decisions for themselves and then be responsible for the consequences. And I don’t know why that wouldn’t apply in an area like a Bitcoin exchange-traded product where you see a lot of interest from people in getting exposure to Bitcoin. This is one way that would be easy for people to get exposure to Bitcoin.”