CFTC Commissioner Reveals That Much Of His Focus Has Been On Disruptive Fintech

Rostin Behnam, the now one year old commissioner of the U.S. regulatory body, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has recently spoken on how much of his time this last year, has been taken up by issues related to disruptive fintech.

In his address at the 2018 International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Annual Japan Conference in Tokyo, on October 25, he reiterated the amount of time he had spent on cryptocurrency, blockchain and related technology.

“I am surprised by the amount of time I spent examining issues related to bitcoin, crypto assets, distributed ledger technology (DLT), artificial intelligence, and cloud-based programming,” said Behnam.

Speaking at the conference, he made it a point to remind the audience, the need to have an “open mind” when faced with fintech and in particular, upcoming technologies that are creating ripples in this space.

Going by what Behnam had to say about blockchain, one can infer that he sees the immense potential that the technology has, and the change that can be brought about in the world, if the technology is harnessed correctly. He spoke about the various use cases for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) or blockchain in sectors like agriculture, finance, healthcare, art, etc. Be it the variation ranging from “CryptoKitties to Dogecoin,” there is some useful application of it all.

When proded about his vision regarding crypto, DLT and AI, Behman said,

“I had no single goal in mind, just a desire to avoid being the typical regulator on the tail end of technological advancement, scurrying to keep pace with swift innovations that capture market efficiencies, open markets to new products and participants, and often reward those willing to take risk.”

The CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been receiving calls from everywhere to be more fair while dealing with crypto and not entangle it in unnecessary regulatory shambles. Just this week, the chairman of the U.S. telecoms regulator spoke on the need for a “level playing field” going ahead, for a technology like blockchain.