Rostin Benham, head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said there is merit in regulating the activity of DeFi protocols. The Block reports.
He likened the sector’s situation to visiting an unlicensed doctor.
‘We must not wait for victims to appear. We must act proactively and provide critical market oversight, robust cybersecurity and systemic safeguards, as well as customer protection. That is our mission […]. If you need an analogy, think: would you feel comfortable on the road if only some were required to have licences? Or, if you had a choice, would you trust an inexperienced or unlicensed doctor?’ — Benham said.
In May, the CFTC chairman stated, that DEX will be regulated by his agency or the SEC, even if platforms operate autonomously or with minimal human involvement.
Prior to Benham, in a similar vein spoke out by CFTC Enforcement Director Ian McGinley. In September the official described unregulated exchanges in the DeFi space as a “obvious threat” to markets and customers.
McGinley recalled the Polymarket and Ooki DAO projects, which the Commission had pursued earlier. In September, this list was augmented by Opyn, ZeroEx and Deridex.
In the same month, SEC Enforcement Chief David Hirsch warned that the agency is examining the activity of DeFi protocols for potential violations of the law.
Earlier, a group of senators proposed to require DeFi services to comply with AML.