Regulation
‘Congress must act’ on crypto regulation, CFTC Chairman Behnam tells lawmakers
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam reiterated his long-standing call for Congress to pass legislation addressing the jurisdictions of regulators in the crypto industry during an annual appearance before the House Agriculture Committee.
“We need to close the gaps in crypto regulation,” Behnam said Wednesday, emphasizing the importance of Bitcoin. (BTC) recent price developments. He added that expecting “a new period of irrational exuberance” would be an understatement. “This notion of crypto disappearing, I think, is just a false narrative.”
“We need to act, Congress needs to act to close this gap, particularly around bitcoin which is clearly a commodity,” he said. “Here are two of the largest tokens, representing around 60-70% of the total market cap [of crypto]”, he added, referring to BTC and ether (ETH)
Behnam was answering questions from lawmakers about the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT Act), a bill that passed the House Agriculture and Financial Services committees last year but never came to a floor vote. Wednesday’s hearing focuses on the CFTC more broadly, including its budget requests for the next fiscal year. Earlier in the hearing, Behnam said the agency needed more certainty regarding its budget.
If Congress passes the FIT Act, Behnam said he is “confident” the CFTC could develop a regulatory framework within 12 months.
Later in the hearing, another lawmaker — Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) — asked Behnam to explain how bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies were commodities, citing the matters first physics as a possible example.
Behnam said the classification of Bitcoin as a commodity “is mostly used against the grain.”
“If it’s not a security, then it’s a commodity,” he said, adding: “in which case the analysis must take place to determine that it is not a title, which is often how we test whether it is an investment contract, and answer that question with the affirmative, that it is not a security, that it becomes a commodity. »