Regulators should establish a single global supervisory framework for the cryptocurrency market that would require full disclosure. This view was expressed by Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and CEO of the FTX exchange, according to SCMP.
Broad rules would allow investors to make informed decisions and spare the industry from a flood of regulatory demands that could stifle innovation, he noted.
Splitting supervision across several agencies depending on whether an asset is a ‘security’ or not will not protect investors, Bankman-Fried said. Instead, a ‘single framework that would take into account such important issues as disclosure and ways to prevent fraud’ is needed, he said.
Bankman-Fried emphasised that some crypto assets have properties that make them resemble securities, while others do not. The boundaries are blurred, but such complexity should not distract regulators, he added.
“We have different legal and regulatory frameworks for all other asset classes; the same should be created for cryptocurrencies,” said the head of FTX.
During an online address at the annual Asian Financial Forum, Bankman-Fried also touched on sovereign digital currencies. In his view, CBDCs will not compete with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, since access to them will be limited to banks.
“Central bank digital currencies digitise the existing fiat system, which is not open to direct user participation,” he said.
Earlier, in December 2021, Bankman-Fried said that the crypto industry needed to solve a number of problems to become mainstream. Among the main challenges he named scalability and regulation.