At an industry conference held on Thursday, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chief Gary Gensler said that he supports giving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the power of oversight of certain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
As per the speech, Gensler said that, “To the extent the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs greater authorities with which to oversee and regulate crypto non-security tokens and related intermediaries, I look forward to working with Congress to achieve that goal consistent with maintaining the regulation of crypto security tokens and related intermediaries at the SEC.”
Gensler highlighted that if Congress gives the CFTC major oversight over crypto, his own federal agency must not be overlooked.
He further asserted that securities laws underlying $100 trillion capital markets must not be undermined. He said, the securities laws have ‘made our capital markets the envy of the world’.
Recently, a US Senate bill stressed upon the need to have CFTC as the regulator of the crypto industry, which presently only has the authority to regulate derivatives.
Previously, Gensler had asserted that Bitcoin is a commodity, not a security. However, many think he is looking for a way to bring Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency (by market cap), under SEC.
In response to the news, Crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky argued on Twitter that Gensler might target Ethereum too.
Gensler has also asked the SEC’s staff to work with entrepreneurs to register and regulate their tokens (where appropriate) as securities. He also asked crypto exchanges to register with the agency.
“Nothing about the crypto markets is incompatible with the securities laws”, Mr. Gensler concluded.
Also Read: Gary Gensler says Crypto Market Shouldn’t be Treated Differently
