Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spoke at an industry conference where he said that is in favor of handing the CFTC the responsibility of overseeing the crypto space.
Crypto oversight
The SEC chair said that Congress should give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the responsibility to regulate and oversee crypto tokens and other intermediaries.
However, he also added that while doing so, Congress should not overlook his federal agency. He stated that they should not undermine the securities law, which regulates about $100 trillion in capital markets.
He stated that it was the securities law that has made the US capital markets the center of envy globally.
There have been a number of proposals put forward, some of which have come from Washington and some from the crypto industry itself.
All of these suggest that the CFTC be given the responsibility of overseeing the crypto industry, which only monitors derivatives for now.
Gensler has previously stated that Bitcoin is not a security and classifies as a commodity, but many are of the opinion that he wants to bring Ethereum under the control of the SEC.
This is the second-largest crypto in the world in terms of market capitalization. Many believe that Gensler still has ETH in his crosshairs.
CFTC and Crypto
Rostin Behnman, the chief of the CFTC, had made a case back in February about expanding the authority of its agency to include crypto as well.
He had done so in a letter that was sent to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. According to the chief, the CFTC is capable of protecting consumers from the risks associated with the market.
A bill had been introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers back in April for regulating crypto exchanges, dealers, and developers.
This was known as the Digital Commodity Exchange Act, which proposes that the regulatory power of the CFTC be expanded, which would give it direct oversight over nonsecurity cryptocurrencies and exchanges.
Other details
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis also introduced a bill in June, which was known as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.
The system proposed in the bill said that the CFTC should be given the responsibility of handling most cryptocurrencies as commodities.
As for the SEC, it was to have the responsibility of monitoring the investment products that stem from cryptocurrencies and tokens that have the characteristics of securities.
The CFTC had announced in July that it was setting up a new tech innovation office and it would hire industry experts to better understand the crypto industry in order to get ready to regulate it.
The Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) had also been introduced by the Senate Agricultural Committee in August.
It proposed that exclusive oversight be granted to the CFTC when it comes to digital commodities. It also mandates that custodians, brokers, trading facilities, and dealers register with the CFCT or get penalized.
Even though Congress has not passed anything yet, the demand for CFTC oversight is high.
