CFTC Chief on Crypto Regulation: It’s a ’70-Year-Old Case Law’

Although the need for regulatory clarity in crypto is increasingly delayed, there seems to be an obstacle that makes developments around this topic seem like a “tough war”.

Here we are talking about the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Clarity should for example be where regulators have pointed out what is a commodity and what is a security in crypto? And which government agency has the mandate to regulate this or that?

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But why is this taking so long? A side of history.

CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam shares his view

In CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam’s view, what’s causing this thing that looks like a supremacy battle is a “70-year-old case law” which regulators rely on to say that this or that should be a security or a commodity.

SEC Chairman Gensler has previously said that only Bitcoin is a commodity, suggesting that the rest may be securities. About this Behnam told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ in a interview:

“Well, we’re going to have to figure it out legally, because this is a new asset class and there are different components and characteristics of this asset class as opposed to traditional asset classes.”

He added:

“We have to rely on 70-year-old case law to determine what is a security or a commodity. We have a case in New York that says Bitcoin is a commodity. There are other issues out there – we’re just trying to figure it out.”

Read more: SEC Chairman Gensler: New crypto regulation could affect broader markets.

The CFTC wants to get into the cash markets

The CFTC head was nevertheless quick to emphasize that both the SEC and the CFTC are not arguing about crypto regulation. According to him, the two regulators cooperate across the exchange and futures area. What the CFTC wants from Congress, however, is a green light to monitor the cash markets.

“For us, the CFTC, the difficulty is, you know, we’re a derivatives regulator. We don’t oversee the cash markets. So the authority that I’ve asked Congress for is cash authority — so we can go into the Bitcoin cash market, the Ether cash market and the other digital the tokens.”

Behnam also noted that despite what appear to be differences, the SEC and CFTC are all working to find a “reasonable outcome.” Primarily, the aim is to ensure that there is security for the crypto market, as well as to offer the necessary protection to retail investors.