The chief of the U.S. Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, has as soon as once more advocated for his company to oversee Bitcoin and Ethereum, the 2 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, by classifying them as commodities. Talking earlier than the U.S. Senate Committee on July 9, Behnam referenced a current Illinois courtroom ruling that reinforces this classification.
The courtroom resolution on July 3 was a part of a $120 million Ponzi scheme case involving an Oregon man accused of fraud. The Illinois district courtroom choose declared that each Bitcoin and Ethereum qualify as commodities below the Commodity Change Act. The ruling additionally prolonged this classification to Olympus (OHM) and KlimaDAO (KLIMA).
Behnam additionally cited a 2022 report from the Monetary Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that identified a regulatory hole within the spot marketplace for digital property that should not securities, suggesting that the CFTC ought to play a extra vital function in overseeing digital commodities.
Behnam emphasised that the dearth of motion from different U.S. regulators wouldn’t diminish public curiosity in digital property and may probably improve dangers to monetary markets and buyers. “Briefly, our present trajectory will not be sustainable. Federal laws is urgently wanted to create a pathway for a regulatory framework that will shield American buyers and presumably the monetary system from future threat,” he asserted.
The CFTC Chair outlined 5 key legislative priorities he believes his company may implement to higher regulate digital commodities. These priorities embrace crafting guidelines tailor-made to the distinctive threat profile of cryptocurrencies, establishing a everlasting “fee-for-service” funding mannequin, requiring complete disclosure from registrants about their crypto property, and enhancing the CFTC’s Know Your Buyer (KYC) and Anti-Cash Laundering (AML) capabilities.
