US Senator John Boozman (R-AR) has revealed that the federal courts and the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) view bitcoin as a commodity.
In his opening remarks during Thursday’s hearing titled “Why Congress Needs to Act: Lessons Learned from the FTX Collapse,” Boozman Told Bitcoin is a commodity in the eyes of prosecutors. He added that exchanges that allow trading of BTC should be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“Bitcoin, although a cryptocurrency, is a commodity. It is a commodity in the eyes of the federal courts and in the opinion of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). There is no dispute about that,” he said, adding:
“If there are exchanges where commodities are traded – whether it is wheat, oil or bitcoin – they should be regulated. It is that simple. Leaving consumers at the mercy of those who will prey on them is not an option. “
Senator mentioned The Fall of FTXThe once-third largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, saying it harmed US customers despite being a foreign company.
He added that the CFTC is the right agency to regulate digital commodities, which include bitcoin and thus any crypto exchange that offers BTC trading. He claimed that the CFTC can help protect customers by creating and implementing creative, workable regulatory structures for the markets to function.
“There is no better example of this than the CFTC’s regulation of the futures market, which has proven to be one of the more resilient markets, in large part due to the CFTC’s regulatory regime based on tried-and-trusted principles.”
Created in 1974, the CFTC is an independent agency of the US government that regulates derivatives markets, which include futures, swaps and some types of options. Rostin Behnam currently serves as the Chairman of the CFTC.
During the first congressional oversight hearing on Thursday, Behnum said cryptocurrencies were “potentially a threat to national security” when senators pointed to the lack of regulation in the space.
Behnam also said that regulating crypto will not be an easy task. He added that cryptocurrencies would continue to exist even if the US government were to ban them altogether. He added that despite the rules and restrictions known as geofencing, 2% of FTX’s customers were from the US.
“That shouldn’t happen,” he said. “People will find a way to be exposed to offshore entities and activities, even if it is banned in the US – and we have to do something about that.”
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