Various U.S. government agencies compete for the right to regulate the fast-growing cryptocurrency market. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are foremost among them.
There’s a battle going on in the United States for the right to regulate the digital asset industry. This was revealed in an interview with CNBC by Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the CFTC. In particular, the official noted the competition between his agency and the SEC and admitted that the lack of a comprehensive regulatory framework for the crypto market is the reason for this.
According to Behnam, Congress and regulators should join forces to close existing regulatory gaps. Moreover, it’s up to Congress to resolve the dispute between various regulatory bodies and clearly delineate their areas of responsibility.
The official said that one of the crucial factors to combat the misuse of digital assets is the widespread adoption of AML and KYC procedures. Besides, regulators should pay attention to market stability and integrity issues, ensuring customer protection and preventing market manipulation.
The CFTC Chairman traditionally stated that most cryptocurrencies are commodities. In turn, Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, regularly claims that cryptocurrencies are securities. What’s more, SEC officials repeatedly attached specific lists of digital assets they equate with securities to lawsuits against crypto companies. For example, in a lawsuit against Kraken, 11 cryptocurrencies, including ADA, SOL, MATIC, and others, were named as securities. This attitude to the issue is exactly what allows the CFTC and the SEC to claim regulation.
However, SEC representatives act much more actively in terms of regulating the crypto market, and their actions many times sparked criticism from blockchain industry participants, crypto community members, and American politicians. The U.S. Congress even held public hearings to oversee the actions of the SEC, though they didn’t change the situation in any way.
