CFTC Fighting SEC for Title of Biggest Crypto Cheerleader

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policyfor Better Markets, issued the following statement after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) indicated its intent to establish rules to give it jurisdiction over crypto transactions:

“The CFTC and the SEC are competing to see which agency is most subservient to the crypto industry. Just last week, the SEC proposed an entirely new regulatory regime for the custody of crypto assets that subjects such assets to weaker rules than traditional securities. Today, the CFTC indicated that it wants to adopt new rules to legitimize crypto assets and give the crypto industry what it has long desired—pushing aside the SEC, which was the global gold standard for investor protection—and putting the CFTC, the least funded, least capable, and most easily capturable regulator in charge, resulting in the appearance but not the reality of actual investor protection regulation. It purports to do this by treating various crypto transactions as if they were futures contracts. The problem is crypto is not like futures.

“The CFTC says that its failure to adopt crypto-specific rules ‘has stymied Congress’s intent’ to bring retail transactions involving crypto assets under the CFTC’s jurisdiction. Yet the CFTC provides no evidence that this is Congress’s intent. That is for good reason.