Both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have claimed jurisdiction
over the crypto industry. A CFTC commissioner clarified that pure
commodities, including crypto assets, or their trading venues are not
regulated by the SEC.
Regulation of Crypto Assets by SEC and CFTC
A commissioner with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
Brian Quintenz, clarified Wednesday that pure commodities, including
crypto assets, fall under the jurisdiction of his agency.
He tweeted: “Just so we’re all clear here, the SEC has no authority
over pure commodities or their trading venues, whether those commodities
are wheat, gold, oil …. or crypto assets.”
Quintenz’s clarification followed the statements
by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Tuesday and Wednesday regarding the
regulation of the crypto industry whenever investment products are
considered securities.
Gensler stressed that there is not enough investor protection when it
comes to crypto assets and their trading platforms. He called for
additional authority and resources to protect investors.
The CFTC declared several years ago that cryptocurrencies, including
bitcoin, are commodities. The derivatives watchdog’s website explains:
Virtual currencies, such as bitcoin, have been determined to be commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).
In addition, the U.S. District Court for the District of
Massachusetts ruled in October 2018 that virtual currencies are
commodities and the CFTC has the power to prosecute crypto-related
fraud.
Over the years, the CFTC has been working closely with the SEC on
consumer protection relating to crypto assets. They have jointly issued
several Investor Alerts on topics such as funds trading in bitcoin futures and websites promoting fraudulent crypto trading.
The Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act introduced
last week by U.S. Representative Don Beyer provides the SEC with
authority over “digital asset securities” and the CFTC with “authority
over digital assets.”
source link : https://news.bitcoin.com/sec-no-authority-over-pure-commodities-crypto-assets-cftc-commissioner/
