Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler supports allowing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to oversee cryptoassets that are considered commodities.
This means that the CFTC will oversee crypto assets such as Bitcoin. Gensler has previously said bitcoin is a commodity, but has been tight-lipped about ether’s status.
unexpected move
Gensler’s move to allow the CFTC to oversee Bitcoin was seen as a surprising move by industry insiders. However, speaking at the SEC Speaks event on Thursday, Gensler laid out some rationales, emphasizing that regulators must cooperate and establish clear regulatory practices around cryptocurrencies to better protect investors. Gensler said,
“To the extent that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs greater authority to oversee and regulate crypto-non-security tokens and related intermediaries, I look forward to working with Congress to achieve goals consistent with maintaining crypto-securities regulation on behalf of the SEC. currency and related intermediaries.”
The news comes after the senator introduced a bipartisan effort by a group of lawmakers to introduce legislation that would allow the CFTC to oversee bitcoin and ether. The senator classifies both goods as commodities. The bill was drafted by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark, and introduced in early August. Gensler was surprising because they came at a time when federal agencies and congressional committees were fighting over who would regulate cryptocurrencies.
Gensler’s take on ether
William Hinman, the former director of the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance, called ether a commodity in 2018. However, SEC Chairman Gensler was less candid about his views on ether. He has publicly stated that the only asset he would like to classify as a commodity is Bitcoin. Many believe that Gensler is looking for ways to bring ethereum into the SEC’s purview.
Following the news, cryptocurrency lawyer Jake Chervinsky reported that Gensler’s target remains ethereum.
“That’s not what the article says. It claims that Chairman Gensler supports the CFTC’s regulation of cryptocurrencies “such as Bitcoin” and quotes him as saying “crypto non-security tokens.” In addition to mentioning the DCPAA Act, which he did not explicitly support , without mentioning ETH. For context, there have been rumors for a while that Chairman Gensler’s SEC is willing to drop its June 2018 guidance that ETH is not a security, but they haven’t found a reliable way to do that. “
There has also been a strong push by the crypto industry and Washington to delegate oversight of the crypto industry to the CFTC.
Not the first time the SEC and CFTC have collaborated
The SEC chair’s support for the CFTC’s involvement in cryptocurrency regulation isn’t the first time the agencies have agreed. Back in August, the SEC proposed amendments to Form PF. Form PF is a confidential form through which registered investment advisors are required to disclose necessary information about their securities holdings.
The CFTC is considering proposing the same amendment to require funds with $500 million in assets under management to disclose their exposure to cryptoassets. Large funds are also required to report investment concentration, leverage and related trade finance.
The SEC should not be ignored
although Gensler He welcomes the possibility that Congress could give the CFTC primary oversight powers over cryptocurrencies, stressing that SFC should not be ignored, stated,
“Let’s make sure we don’t inadvertently undermine the securities laws of a $100 trillion capital market. Securities laws have made our capital markets the envy of the world.”
Bitcoin prices rebounded 1.6 percent from Wednesday’s slump on the news.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
