US Rep. Darren Soto Has Opinions On Cryptocurrency’s Jurisdiction
US Representative Darren Soto has recently said some things about cryptocurrencies that have again raised concerns about their regulation. He believes that the jurisdiction of cryptocurrencies are misplaced at the moment.
Currently, the jurisdiction of cryptocurrencies falls under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), however Soto feels that it should be under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
With an aim to make it more transparent and bring clarity into the market, Soto believes that this move should be implemented. Regulations should be made according to the nature of assets since securities laws can be “very intense”, and if not applied properly, can hurt the cryptocurrency market.
He suggests this solution to,
“establish jurisdiction and classifications so we can bring confidence and clarity into the market.”
Soto teamed up with Rep. Warren Davidson, to bring out two new bills in December alone, called the “Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2018,” and the “U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2018.”
While the former directs the CFTC to look into price manipulation and potential regulatory changes that occur in the market, when a cryptocasset is being evaluated, regarding its security status, the latter will ensure that the country can stay competitive by “mandating research and issuing policy recommendations to better accommodate the market.”
News outlet Cheddar covered this extensively:
Soto believes that the cryptocurrency industry could use the “lighter touch” of agencies like the CFTC. He made sure to mention that the regulators are aware of “some gaming of the systems going on, like spoofing or whitewashing,” and that the regulators are looking to “establish guardrails for consumers.”
He truly believes that SEC will be “saved” for “true securities,” as the crypto ecosystem largely sees “commodities and currency transactions.” He added:
Those are agencies with a lighter touch and we have grown consensus among the industry that they’d be appropriate for the majority of these types of cryptocurrency transactions and the nature of these assets.
It should be a good move considering how the SECs were often coming down hard on cryptocurrencies. CFTCs might just be the more appropriate body for the task of regulating cryptocurrencies.