Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
A bill introduced to the House of Representatives would allow cryptocurrency trading exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The bill was introduced by Representatives of both the Republican and Democratic parties in a bipartisan effort to bring regulation and legitimacy to the industry without involving the more rigid Securities and Exchange Commission.
The CFTC already oversees regulation of futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam has said his agency is ready to include crypto assets into its domain.
Entitled “The Digital Commodity Exchange Act of 2022”, the bill is an iteration of prospective law that has been introduced twice already. In its current form it calls for exchanges to monitor trading, establish a minimum capital requirement, avoid conflicts of interest and much more. The bill would create the term “digital commodity” which it defines as: “...any form of fungible intangible personal property that can be exclusively possessed and transferred person to person without necessary reliance on an intermediary.”
Republican Representative Glenn Thompson of Pennsylvania said in a statement on April 28th that “Closing the spot-market gap is an essential piece of the regulatory puzzle, but more work remains. I look forward to working with my colleagues to bring the greater clarity to crypto users and creators and I hope to see it move through the legislative process promptly.”
Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California also added that “This bipartisan bill will create a regulatory frame work for these emerging technologies and keep us competitive with the rest of the world.”
The SEC would still retain oversight over equities, debt interests, and securities involving digital assets but some, like Republican Representative Patrick McHenry claim crypto currency is neither security or commodity and a newly created regulator for digital assets is needed. Regardless the choice of regulator the move has been called for by many industry spokespersons. Venture capitalist and TV celebrity Kevin Oleary has called frequently for crypto regulation, predicting that one day crypto will become the 12th sector of the S&P. In December of 2021, Jordan Belfort at the Block Chain World Exhibition in Dubai likened any future regulation of Crypto assets to the regulation of junk bonds in the late 1980’s, a move that surprised him with its 100x outcome.
Author bio
Scott Brown runs the TikTok bitcoin page Satoshi Lords, where he encourages others "Stacks Sats and Spreads Facts"
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.