While crypto and digital assets space is facing issues pertaining to government regulation from a long time, things are moving forward for sure. Governmental regulatory bodies like Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are yet to come forward with clear rules and regulations regarding cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
However, CFTC’s chairman, J. Christopher Giancarlo, who has been known for being crypto friendly in the past has commented that cryptocurrencies are “here to stay.” Giancarlo recently sat down with CNBC’s Bob Pisani to discuss the role of CFTC in regulating the crypto industry.
“I personally think that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. I think there is a future for them. I’m not sure they ever come to rival the dollar or other hard currencies, but there’s a whole section of the world that really is hungry for functioning currencies that they can’t find in their local currencies. There’s 140 countries in the world, every one of them has a currency. Probably two-thirds are not worth the polymer or the paper they’re written on, and those parts of the world rely on hard currencies. Bitcoin [or another] cryptocurrency may solve some of the problems.”
Speaking from Washington D.C. at an event hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), Giancarlo, said that CFTC is constantly working to prevent fraud and manipulation in the crypto industry. “We’re very focused on the fraud and manipulation aspects of cryptocurrency markets right now. In fact, last week, we just won a big victory in Boston federal courts that certifies our authority to prosecute fraud and manipulation in the crypto space and we’ve been very active at it.”
He further stated that while this industry may be new right now but 10 years down the road, the technology will have much better adoption.
