Regulation
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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) defends the position in Congress that crypto assets are inherently a commodity that falls under the jurisdiction of the agency.
In an interview with CNBC, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said that, from the point of view of the regulator, bitcoin and ether have the characteristics of a commodity. Therefore, it is not surprising that the CFTC plans to apply similar regulatory methods to them.
Behnam acknowledges a difference of opinion with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, who believes Ethereum should be subject to securities laws after the merger. However, according to Behnam, the position of the CFTC is more in line with the real state of affairs, and he is ready to defend it in Congress.
“We will have to resolve this at the legislative level, because this is a new asset class with characteristics that are different from traditional ones. We must rely on 70-year-old case law to determine what is a security and what is a commodity. We have at least one court case in the Eastern District of New York that says bitcoin is a commodity,” Behnam said.
Asked if there is a “turf war” between the two agencies, Behnam said he and the SEC are working together on a better solution that will create market confidence and protect retail investors.
Earlier, CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham proposed the creation of a “retail sales legal department” to oversee individuals’ crypto investments.
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