CFTC Chair Warns That Crypto Regulation Is Inevitable

The creation and deployment of innovation will not be a ‘free pass’ around regulation for participants in the cryptocurrency industry. This was stated by Rostin Behnam, head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), The Block reports.

During his remarks at DC Fintech Week, the regulator’s head expressed confidence that Bitcoin and Ethereum are commodities. At present the CFTC’s jurisdiction covers derivatives and futures, but does not extend to spot markets.

“What I have advocated for and what I asked Congress for is to clearly define oversight of commodity tokens,” Behnam emphasised.

In July, the head of the CFTC announced the creation of the Office of Technology Innovation, which will regulate the crypto industry.

Earlier, Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a bipartisan bill to regulate the crypto industry. According to the document, most cryptocurrencies fall under the CFTC’s jurisdiction as digital commodity tokens.

In August, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried supported the bill to empower the Commission to regulate the crypto market. It will grant the regulator “exclusive jurisdiction over any account, agreement, contract or transaction related to trading digital commodities.”

Back in September, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Ooki DAO, accusing it of illegally offering exchange-traded products using borrowed funds and violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

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