SEC Chairman Backs Congress to Give CFTC More Power to Oversee And Regulate Bitcoin And Non-Security Cryptos 

Gensler will support Congress in giving CFTC more regulatory power over Bitcoin, but…

Gary Gensler, the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said he would support the United States Congress to delegate more regulatory power to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate non-security tokens like Bitcoin (BTC). 

The SEC chair made this known during an industry conference held today, as The Wall Street Journal reported. According to Gensler, he would throw his weight behind the U.S. Congress to hand over more regulatory power over non-security assets to the CFTC. Gensler said he would only support giving the CFTC more authority over selected cryptocurrencies as long as the move does not affect the SEC in any way. 

WSJ writes: “Mr. Gensler, who headed the CFTC from 2009 to 2014, qualified his remarks by saying he welcomed working with lawmakers as long as it doesn’t take away power from the SEC.”

Gensler said: “Let’s ensure that we don’t inadvertently undermine securities laws. We’ve got a $100 trillion capital market. Crypto is less than $1 trillion worldwide. But we don’t want that to somehow undermine what we do elsewhere,”

Moves to Give CFTC Control Over Cryptos

For months, cryptocurrency proponents have made several calls, requesting that more powers be given to the CFTC to regulate the emerging market. 

Cryptocurrency stakeholders complain that the SEC’s rules are unsuitable for the nascent industry, given the massive difference between crypto and traditional assets. 

The Senate Agriculture Committee is already making significant moves to grant the CFTC regulatory oversight over the two-largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Currently, the CFTC only has control over the derivatives market, including swaps and futures. While Gensler does not seem to have issues with the CFTC regulating Bitcoin, the SEC chair believes other crypto assets are under its jurisdiction. 

Gensler recently called on crypto stakeholders to have a roundtable discussion with the SEC to decide the best way to regulate the industry. 

However, no significant result has been achieved so far, as crypto experts complain that the SEC has continued to shut its doors against them. 

Should Congress give the CFT more authority over other cryptocurrencies outside Bitcoin, there is a tendency that the Gensler-led SEC would kick against such a decision.