CFTC Chairman Confirms Bitcoin, Ether Are Commodities
The chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) says he is certain bitcoin and ether are commodities. He outlined how his agency is working with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the crypto sector, noting that “there are no customer protections right now in the crypto market.” Bitcoin and Ether Are Commodities ‘For Sure’
CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam discussed the regulation of cryptocurrencies by the CFTC and the SEC in an interview with CNBC last week.
The chairman was asked to comment on a bill in Congress that puts the SEC in charge of security tokens and the CFTC in charge of commodity tokens.
“This is a little bit of an age-old issue between the CFTC and the SEC. We have a great relationship historically … Within this space, in my view, it makes sense for commodities to be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and securities to be regulated by the SEC,” Behnam detailed.
The CFTC boss noted that within the crypto space, there will be some coins that are securities and some that are commodities.
When asked to comment on SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s claim that most of the crypto tokens out there are securities, Behnam stressed that the largest cryptocurrencies are commodities. He emphasized: Well, I can say for sure bitcoin … is a commodity. Ether as well.
Admitting that there may be a lot of security coins, the CFTC chief noted, “there are plenty of community coins.” He clarified: “I think it makes sense that each agency has jurisdiction over commodities and securities respectively.”
The CFTC chairman was asked whether there is any disagreement between the two agencies. “I wouldn’t say there is disagreement,” he replied, emphasizing that each agency tries to do what’s best.
Commenting on the crypto market sell-off last week, Behnam said: A lot of people got hurt. A lot of value was lost in the market, and there really are no customer protections right now.
He concluded that both the CFTC and the SEC want to regulate the crypto sector “thoughtfully,” protect customers, and protect financial stability. Tags in this story CFTC, cftc chair, cftc chairman, cftc cryptocurrencies, Rostin Behnam, Rostin Behnam bitcoin, Rostin Behnam crypto
What do you think about the comments by the CFTC chairman? Let us know in the comments section below. Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography. Bitmex Co-Founder Arthur Hayes Avoids Prison for Violating US Bank Secrecy Act REGULATION | 7 hours ago Singapore High Court Injunction Blocks Sale or Transfer of BAYC #2162 NFT REGULATION | 1 day ago
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