Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
SEC Chairman Gensler Insists Most Crypto Tokens Are Securities – Says ‘The Law Is Clear’ – Regulation Bitcoin News
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has reiterated that most crypto-tokens are securities, stressing that “the law is clear on this.” However, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has asked Congress for authority over crypto spot markets, and several bills have been introduced in Congress this year to give the CFTC the necessary authority.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Crypto Regulation
The question of which federal agency should regulate the crypto market has received a lot of attention recently. While the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has said that the majority of crypto tokens are securities and should fall under his agency, many people and lawmakers believe that it should be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that regulates the crypto sector . Also, three bills have been introduced in Congress this year to make the CFTC the regulator of the crypto markets.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Gensler responded to a question about who should regulate the crypto sector. The SEC chief explained:
Our agency is an agency that oversees this fundamental trade. When a group of entrepreneurs raises money from the public and the public expects a profit, they need disclosure – full, fair and truthful disclosure, and that is at the heart of our capital markets.
The SEC chairman continued: “You have to take the risk, but the person raising money or the people raising money have to disclose different information to you. That’s how our capital markets work best, and the SEC is very good at this, and it’s we do.” He emphasized:
The law is clear on this. I believe based on the facts and circumstances, most of these tokens are securities.
On Monday, at the meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Gensler reiterated: “Of the almost 10,000 tokens in the crypto market, I think the vast majority are securities. The offering and sale of these crypto-security tokens is covered by the securities laws. Given that most crypto tokens are securities, it follows that many crypto intermediaries deal in securities and must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission in some capacity.”
Regarding the SEC cooperating with the CFTC, Gensler emphasized:
To the extent that crypto brokers will one day have to register with both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), I would note that we currently have dual registrants in the broker-dealer space and in the fund advisory space.
Meanwhile, the CFTC has asked Congress for authority over the cryptocurrency market. CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam explained last week that since the CFTC is a derivatives regulator, it does not currently oversee the cash markets. That’s why he has asked Congress for “cash authorities, so we can go into the bitcoin cash market, the ether cash market and the other digital commodity token [markets]”, the CFTC chief explained last week.
He also said the SEC and CFTC need to “figure it out legislatively” because crypto is a new asset class. “There are different components and characteristics of this asset class as opposed to traditional asset classes,” Behnam said, adding, “We have to rely on 70-year-old case law to determine what is a security, what is a commodity.”
Who do you think should regulate the crypto market, SEC or CFTC? Let us know in the comments section below.
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