Chris Giancarlo, the chairman of the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has expressed his willingness to take a “do no harm” approach in the realm of cryptocurrencies and related technologies. This is one of the reasons why Giancarlo has been affectionately termed: “Crypto Dad” by the industry. This is also the same industry that had intense fears that the world’s regulatory bodies are hell-bent on regulating crypto assets. We view this as bullish from the American regulators.
Giancarlo, widely seen as pro-cryptocurrency due to his outspoken acceptance of this industry, recently sat down with Fox Business to express his thoughts on regulation on cryptocurrency.
The regulator first explained that his agency, the CFTC, had been watching the crypto space since 2015. He then clarified that the CFTC has classified cryptocurrencies as a commodity under their own jurisdiction. Ever since, the CFTC has been watching the crypto industry.
Giancarlo continued to explain the dual approach that the CFTC is currently taking. Referencing the myriad fo scams that the cryptosphere is still subject to, Crypto Dad stated:
“On one hand, we have very strong enforcement efforts. There are a lot of scammers, a lot of fraudsters in this marketplace. And we’re covering the beat for them and when we find them, we will be taking them out… Our authority in this area has just been confirmed by two federal courts, so we are really on this strongly.”
However, as alluded to earlier, Giancarlo has earned his nickname of Crypto Dad by doing his best to be accepting of this technology. He has stated that he thinks that innovation, be it in crypto or otherwise, should be addressed with a “do no harm” approach from regulators. He then brought up the example of the green light that the CFTC gave to the CME and CBOE to launch Bitcoin futures contracts at the end of 2017.
The introduction of the Bitcoin futures markets was the industry’s first step towards maturation and stability. We’ve covered how the CFTC believes that cryptocurrency is here to stay. This is just the next step towards mass adoption.
Giancarlo was then questioned about his outlook on the industry, given the arrival of Bakkt and other products and platforms being backed by major financial institutions and players. Giancarlo remarked:
“We’re seeing more institutional movement into this area. And with more institutional movement, we should see more maturation of this market, but there is still a long way to go. There’s still a lot of issues with the spot exchanges – a lack of transparency, the presence of conflicts of interests, a lot of lack of system safeguards.”
He also stated that he recognized that this is but a 10 year old industry. He believes that this is just something that needs time to grow, like any emerging market. But, bullishly, Giancarlo closed by stating that the arrival of institutional investors will catalyze the long-awaited maturation and mass adoption.
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