While the SEC is still in doubts, the CFTC Chairman has a very positive opinion regarding the potential and future of cryptocurrencies,
Though crypto regulation has been widely discussed for several years already, this issue is still one of the most serious unsolved problems in the sphere of cryptocurrencies. There is still no final decision about how this type of assets should be managed and controlled because members of such influential governmental agencies as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) haven’t managed to come to a single opinion.
While the SEC hasn’t permitted the launch of the Butcoin ETF, the CFTC has an absolutely opposite view on innovations and cryptocurrencies which was announced by its Chairman, Christopher Giancarlo. Giancarlo believes that cryptocurrency is here to stay even if it doesn’t become the world’s leading class of assets.
Speaking about the future of cryptos, he said:
“I personally think that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. I think there is a future for them. I’m not sure they ever come to rival the dollar or other hard currencies, but there’s a whole section of the world that is really hungry for functioning currencies that they can’t find in their local currencies. There’s 140 countries in the world, every one of them has a currency. Probably 2/3 are not worth the polymer or the paper they’re written on, and those parts of the world rely on hard currencies. Bitcoin [or another] cryptocurrency may solve some of the problems.”
Nevertheless, according to him, it may take 10 years or even more.
In the crypto community, Trump’s appointee has earned a nickname “CryptoDad”. Such a nickname appeared after his speech at the SEC Commission on digital currencies, during which he tried to encourage legislators to be open-minded towards cryptocurrencies and to develop fair crypto regulation. He also highlighted that his views had been formed based on his experience of being a father of children extremely excited by cryptocurrencies.
In his recent interview, he said that at the current moment, the community is really focused on negative aspects of cryptocurrency markets including fraud and manipulation. He believes that legislators should stop their efforts in pursuing severe regulations regarding cryptocurrency, that’s why he hopes that they will manage to find an appropriate reflective attitude towards crypto products, even if such an approach will prevent the United States from taking the leading positions in the sphere of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. He noted:
“There’s no question that the United States is leading in a number of areas. But there’s other areas as well of innovation where I think it makes sense for us to take a little bit more of a thoughtful and intelligent approach, just as the US Congress did 20 years ago in the early days of the internet.”
Returning to the issue of regulation, Giancarlo said that the statutes of such traditional agencies as the SEC had been written nearly a century ago and it is necessary to change the approaches. He also added that while the CFTC views crypto from the point of view of an institutional investor, the SEC should approach it from the retail investor’s perspective.
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