Felecia Davis 
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler is in talks with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officers on a “memorandum of understanding” on the regulation of digital belongings. Together, the companies can guarantee market integrity, Gensler advised The Financial Times in an interview printed Thursday. “I’m speaking about one rule guide on the alternate that protects all buying and selling whatever the pair — [be it] a safety token versus safety token, safety token versus commodity token, commodity token versus commodity token,” Gensler advised the newspaper.
Gensler’s need to be collaborative comes as a wide range of legislative initiatives have been launched to create a extra complete regulatory framework for digital belongings. The Digital Commodity Exchange Act, launched in its newest type in April, and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, launched in June, each gave the CFTC larger authority over the market.
Debbie Stabenow, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which has oversight of the CFTC, and the committee’s rating member John Boozman are reportedly additionally drafting a crypto regulation invoice, which is anticipated to increase CFTC powers. Gensler, who headed the CFTC from 2009 to 2013, has expressed skepticism about adjustments in the established order.
The SEC has taken the lead in crypto regulation to this point, however regularly to the dissatisfaction of the trade and lawmakers who’re crucial of its strategies of allegedly regulating by way of enforcement. Crypto trade leaders have explicitly requested for clearer regulation, and SEC commissioner Hester Peirce has pressed for coverage adjustments from inside the fee.
Related: Bringing crypto market ‘into the sunshine’ doesn’t deal with enforcement: CFTC chair
Regulation just isn’t a query of authority alone. The Financial Times cites blockchain analytics firm Elliptic as saying U.S. regulators have collected $3.35 billion by way of enforcement actions within the crypto trade through the years, with over 70% of that sum going to the SEC.
