SEC will not fully regulate the cryptocurrency industry, as not all digital assets meet the definition of securities. This was stated by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
“Obviously, Bitcoin or Ethereum are exchange-traded commodities and should probably be regulated by the CFTC. If the team wants to raise funds for the company through security tokens, those are securities and fall under the SEC. It would be good to bring clarity to this issue,” Armstrong said.
According to the executive, stablecoins should fall under the purview of the U.S. Treasury. There are art-based cryptocurrencies that do not fall under any of the above categories and probably should not be subject to supervision, he added.
The Coinbase CEO stressed that regulation requires a balance between protecting investors and preserving openness to innovation.
“We do not want the government to be in a position to pick winners and losers. Just because something is legal does not look like a good investment. We all want to root out fraud and are ready to work with the government […]. But there is a danger that, in the end, only wealthy individuals who meet accredited investor criteria will be able to invest.”, Armstrong said.
The executive also did not rule out that an imbalance could push breakthrough-innovation projects out of the field. At first they may not live up to expectations, and the government would never fund them.
In March, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order coordinating federal agencies to regulate cryptocurrencies.
At the end of March, Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand disclosed details of a bill intended to provide regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies. Among other things, the document clarifies the broker definition in the infrastructure plan and envisages the creation of a dedicated supervisory agency.
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