Rostin Behnam, the commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has spoken positively about the future impact of cryptocurrency technologies. Behnam said that cryptocurrencies “will proliferate to every economy and every part of the planet.”
The CFTC is an independent agency which regulates the futures and options markets, and exists primarily to prevent fraud, reduce risk, and protect consumers from illegal or abusive practices in the markets. Earlier this week the agency ordered that some of the largest crypto exchanges provide them with detailed trading data. Ironically the move was felt by some to have impacted negatively on crypto prices, with total market capitalization falling some 5% over the past few days.
Nonetheless the involvement of the CFTC might be seen as a positive sign in the longer term, with many feeling that increased regulation could help reduce price volatility, encourage institutional investment, and thereby hasten the mainstream adoption of crypto technologies.
Behnam took a critical but broadly positive view of the future impact of crypto. In particular he noted the potential for digital currencies to contribute to development in smaller economies, where many are unbanked and without access to even basic financial services. Further, he observed that “we could use Blockchain to address the most basic, the most primal problems on our planet: corruption, income distribution, poverty, food, and health care.”
Behnam did acknowledge, however, that crypto could also turn out to be a double-edged sword, with the possibility of the super-rich manipulating currencies and controlling the flow of wealth in the economy.
