US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman says he’s certain Bitcoin and Ether are commodities. He outlined how his agency is working with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the crypto sector, noting that “there is currently no customer protection in the crypto market.”
Bitcoin and Ether are “certainly” commodities
CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam spoke about the CFTC and SEC’s regulation of cryptocurrencies in an interview with CNBC last week.
The chair was asked to comment on a bill in Congress that would make the SEC responsible for security tokens and the CFTC for commodity tokens.
“This is an age-old issue between the CFTC and the SEC. We have a great relationship historically… In this space I think it makes sense that commodities would be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and securities by the SEC,” Behnam explained.
The CFTC chief noted that in 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 crypto tokens are securities, Behnam emphasized that the top cryptocurrencies are commodities. He emphasized:
Well, it’s safe to say that bitcoin is… a commodity. ether as well.
Acknowledging that there may be many security coins, the CFTC chief noted, “There are many community coins.” He clarified, “I think it makes sense for each agency to have commodities/equities jurisdiction.”
The Chairman of the CFTC was asked if there were any disagreements between the two agencies. “I wouldn’t say there’s disagreement,” he replied, stressing that every agency tries to do its best.
Commenting on the sell-off in the crypto market last week, Behnam said:
Many people were injured. A lot of value has been lost in the market and there really is no customer protection at this time.
He concluded that both the CFTC and SEC want to “regulate prudently” the crypto sector, protect customers, and protect financial stability.
What do you think of the CFTC Chairman’s comments? Let us know in the comment section below.
Kevin Helms
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