U.S. SEC, CFTC overhaul crypto rules; former officials warn of duplicative regulation

As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission speed up work to overhaul rules on crypto derivatives and custody, former officials raised concerns.

On Aug. 31, blockchain outlet Decrypt reported that the two agencies are proceeding first with steps to revise derivative definitions, jurisdictional boundaries and digital asset custody rules while a congressional Clarity bill remains pending.

A key issue is how to classify new derivatives such as swaps, security-based swaps and perpetual futures, and which agency should oversee them. In June, the SEC and CFTC began seeking public input on definitions for such products and on where each agency's jurisdiction begins and ends.

Former senior SEC and CFTC officials argued in a joint comment letter that regulation should be applied in line with risk levels and that overlapping regulation should not only raise compliance costs. The letter was signed by Chris Giancarlo (크리스 지안카를로), Brian Quintenz (브라이언 퀸텐즈), Sharon Brown-Hruska (샤론 브라운-흐루스카), Steven Wallman (스티븐 월먼) and Chester Spatt (체스터 스패트). They stressed that investor protection and maintaining the competitiveness of U.S. markets are not partisan issues.