CFTC Announces New Office of Technical Innovation to Oversee Crypto
by Arthur · July 26, 2022
The regulator that could soon be responsible for more of America’s crypto oversight is bolstering its technology team, the agency’s chief said Monday.
Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which will gain greater authority over digital assets under the proposals of a bipartisan congressional billsets up a new office for technology innovation.
“We are past the incubator stage, and digital assets and decentralized technologies have grown out of their sandboxes,” CFTC chief Rostin Behnam said of the decision, speaking at a Brookings Institution event yesterday.
The new office will replace the CFTC’s existing fintech team, called LabCFTC, a project that was the brainchild of Behnam’s predecessor Christopher J. Giancarlo. The former CFTC chairman is also a blockchain champion who has embraced the nickname “Crypto Dad.”
Once rebranded to the Office of Technology Innovation and reorganized is complete, the unit will be led by a director reporting to Behnam’s office.
In addition to hiring specialists in the field, the office will give CFTC staff the chance to rotate through and gain experience in crypto.
The CFTC joins the crypto regulatory race
Behnam spoke at a time when his agency looks to take on more responsibility for crypto, marking a change from the current status quo where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has led the charge.
ONE The House bill called the Responsible Financial Innovation Actwhich is sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), would see the CFTC oversee “fungible digital assets that are not securities.”
The bill is expected to go before the Congressional Agriculture Committee, which oversees commodity markets because of its historic role in grain futures markets. It could also go to a vote already this year, according to Gillibrand.
Behnam said yesterday that he was “encouraged” by legislative efforts to create a more consistent regulatory approach.
“Even the strongest working relationships may not provide the effectiveness we need to put a hard and fast stop to misconduct that increasingly has consequences beyond individual investors,” he said.
“The lack of a comprehensive regulatory regime applicable to businesses operating in the digital asset market has led to inconsistent practices around issues such as trade settlement, conflicts of interest, data reporting and cyber security.”
