CFTC head looks to new Congress for action on crypto regulation

Rostin behnam, president of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said it will continue its efforts to have the agency regulate tokens unrelated to security.

In remarks to be published in February. 3 American Bar Association event, Behnam pointed to “bankruptcies, failures, and runs” as part of the justification for Congress to give the CFTC the authority to address regulation for cryptocurrencies. According to the president of the CFTC, the committee was "well placed" to fill the regulatory gaps, but it left it up to US legislators to press the trigger of the legislation.

'Regulation is needed to protect customers and prevent failures that cannot be contained in a predictable manner within any borders across national and global financial markets,' said Mr Behnam. "From 2023 to 2033, we need to take action. There is a new Congress, and I will continue to participate and provide technical assistance in the drafting of the legislation, as requested."

Today @CFTCbehnam will deliver a keynote address at the ABA Business Law Section Derivatives & Futures Law Committee Winter Meeting. Read it as prepared here: https://t.co/PZuT4vzrBr

— CFTC (@CFTC) February 3, 2023

According to the CFTC chair, budget increases for the commission would also help grow its enforcement team, which brought 69 crypto-related actions to date — a list that includes FTX, Ooki DAO, and others. Behnam said that the team "worked for another year strong of precedents" against fraudulent or illegal digital goods projects.

Related: CFTC slammed for ‘blatant regulation by enforcement’ over Ooki DAO case

Though the political makeup of the 118th Congress differs slightly from that of its predecessor, it’s unclear if the CFTC will be given additional authority under Behnam. One of the pieces of legislation lawmakers may revisit is the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act — a bill first introduced in June 2022 aimed at addressing the roles of the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission on crypto regulation.