CFTC Chair Considers Bitcoin and Ethereum to Be Commodities – Bitcoin and ether, according to the chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), are commodities. He described how his agency is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regulate the crypto industry, emphasizing that “there are no customer protections in the crypto market right now.”
In an interview with CNBC last week, CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam discussed the CFTC and SEC’s supervision of cryptocurrencies. The chairman was asked for his thoughts on a plan in Congress that would place the Securities and Exchange Commission in control of security tokens and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission in charge of commodity tokens.
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“This is a lengthy issue between the CFTC and the SEC. Our relationship has always been strong. Commodities should be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and securities should be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission,” Behnam stated.
Some coins in the crypto space will be securities, while others will be commodities, according to the CFTC chairman. When asked about SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s contention that most crypto tokens are securities, Behnam emphasized that the most popular cryptocurrencies are commodities.
He stressed:
“I can declare with certainty that bitcoin is a commodity. As well as Ether.”
There are lots of community coins, the CFTC chief said, acknowledging that there could be a lot of security coins. “I think it makes sense how each agency has jurisdiction over commodities as well as securities separately,” he added.
If there is any disagreement between the two agencies, the CFTC chairman was asked. “I wouldn’t say there’s a disagreement,” he said, noting that each agency strives to do the best it can.
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CFTC Chair Considers Bitcoin and Ethereum to Be Commodities – Behnam commented about the crypto market sell-off last week:
“Many people were hurt. There was a lot of value lost in the market, and there are now no customer protections.”
Both the CFTC and the SEC, he concluded, aim to regulate the crypto sector carefully, safeguard customers, and maintain financial stability.
