Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has reclaimed the position of his office in the crypto space and he is probably going to propose greater authority action.
On Thursday, Behnam was participating in the 2022 FINRA annual conference to talk about crypto regulation, basically, a crypto conference hosted by Chainalysis Links.
In one of his comments, the CFTC’s chairman seemed to be centred around the rising number of instances of digital asset fraud and control, a pattern that he said ought to be dealt with.
Headlines about the loss of tens of millions of dollars in digital assets due to protocol exploits, phishing attacks, preying on vulnerable people and other fraudulent and manipulative schemes have become far too common
As indicated by Behnam, the regulator has recorded more than 50 regulatory actions connected with digital assets since 2015, and the greater number of those complaints are of fraud. 23 of the total 50 cases were registered in 2021, and around 65% were crypto-related fraud cases, registered in the last over two years, Behnam said.
Replicating the steps of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is trying to expand its resources in the Crypto Unit, Behnam said that the CFTC will likewise hope to focus on the utilization of its current regulatory power to deter/ battle fraud and manipulation in the crypto markets and will keep on adding resources around here.
On Monday, in an interview for CNBC, Behnam talked about the job that the agency might have in the oversight of crypto assets and the relationship with the SEC. During the interview, Mr Behnam affirmed his perspective that Bitcoin and Ethereum are commodities and ought to fall under the CFTC remit. Until the end of tokens and crypto assets, the two agencies proceed with alert since some of them might be viewed as securities, yet many others are commodities — and given the constant advancement of the innovation and the new products coming to the market, it is difficult to layout an unmistakable definition at the front, Behnam asserted.
The CFTC chairman said that it would be legit to analyze a wide range of assets to determine which of these assets qualify as commodities or securities.
When asked about the connection between the SEC and the CFTC, he answered that it is an “age-old matter” and that the two agencies throughout the years had an extraordinary relationship, and they intend to keep on cooperating. Instead of rivalling each other for crypto oversight, the agencies are attempting to offer customer and investor assurance, said Behnam.