Whereas Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is increasingly tipped to take over oversight of crypto cash marketsone of its commissioners, Christy Goldsmith Romero, says that in this perspective, the regulatory body should review the way it categorizes retail investors.
Setting a New Profile for Crypto Investors
A consensus seems to be emerging in the United States for the CFTC to go beyond its current jurisdiction in futures and derivatives, and become authoritative in the spot cryptocurrency markets. The condition: settle the debate between financial securities (securities) and raw material (commodities).
Anticipating this new allocation, one of the commissioners of the federal agency, Christy Goldsmith Romero, was quick to make proposals. She wants in particular redefining the nature of a retail investor, observing that with cryptos, it is a more widespread profile that will arrive in the markets that the CFTC regulates, traditionally invested by institutional investors.
Also, according to information relayed by Coindesk, it would like to add a new category to distinguish one from the other, knowing that until then, for the CFTC, a retail client is a person whose total assets do not exceed $10 million. A conception for the less broad which is no longer, from his point of view, adapted to the situation.
What I’m suggesting is that we break that definition of retail in half, and then we can target the rules and regulations at ordinary households that might not be necessary for a hedge fund or a millionaire.
Christy Goldsmith Romero, CFTC Commissioner, in The Block
The intention being to help the agency treat regular crypto users differently from other investment players. It would be a question of taking into account their specificity to better protect them, even if it means imposing limits on them.. This, she says, would be “a great way to broaden access to financial markets”.
You want to make sure that you can provide expanded access to retail investors, but in a way that is safe and affordable to them, quite different from that available to a high net worth individual.
Christy Goldsmith Romero, CFTC Commissioner, in CoinDesk
Regulation in the name of investor protection
This concern for the protection of crypto investors is one of the great workhorses of regulators. Often likening the crypto ecosystem to a wild west, and the news unfortunately often testifies to this, they brandish this argument like a mantra, sometimes even to conveniently justify the unjustifiable (violated privacy, unfair treatment in access to wealth, etc. ).
But whatever the case, the lexical pair risk/protection carries. She is even the condition sine qua non required for an authorization to control the sector. So recently, the CFTC like the SEC, and two other federal agencies, were strongly urged to certify the means that each has undertaken to fight against fraud and scams related to cryptocurrencies.
The CFTC Commissioner plans to issue a written proposal soon to define a new category of retail investor. To this end, it will seek comments from the public and the various decision-makers.
Remember that while the European Union has adopted a regulatory text, the famous MiCA, to regulate the crypto industry, the United States is lagging behind. There is not yet a unified federal system to the chagrin of players in the sector. However recent bipartisan bills seem to indicate that the CFTC will step in to oversee cash markets if Congress clearly defines the notion of “digital commodity”.
A regulation that does not let go is an indicator that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, so if you too want to embark on the crypto ship before limitations or other joys, do not wait any longer to register on the Bytbit platform (link commercial).