The head of the CFTC considers bitcoin a commodity and wants to regulate it
Rostin Behnam, head of the CFTC, believes that the cryptocurrency market needs a regulatory framework, and as soon as possible. He stated this during his annual speech to the House of Representatives.
In his speech, Behnam mentioned the recent rise of bitcoin (BTC). According to him, Congress needs to develop a law as soon as possible that will concern the crypto industry.
"We must act; Congress must take action to fill this gap, especially with regard to bitcoin, which is a commodity," he said.
One of the legislators asked to clarify on what principle BTC or other cryptocurrencies can be classified as goods.
"If it's not a security, then it's a commodity. In this case, we usually conduct an analysis to prove that an asset is not a security. During this analysis, we check whether an asset can be considered an investment contract. If not, then this is a product," he explained.
Behnam added that most often the categorization of an asset as a commodity is perceived in a negative way. However, in reality, there is nothing wrong with it.
The official recalled the "Law on Financial Innovations and Technologies of the XXI century", which was introduced last year. It passed through the Agriculture and Financial Services Committees of the House of Representatives, but was never put to a vote.
If the initiative is approved, the CFTC will be able to create a regulatory framework for the crypto market within a year, Behnam is sure.
Source: https://ru.beincrypto.com/cftc-regulirovanie-kriptoindustrii/
