CFTC Chairman Backs Institutional Adoption for Crypto Markets to Mature

Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission - J. Christopher Giancarlo was recently interviewed by Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo wherein he shared his outspoken views for the cryptocurrency market. Giancarlo, widely known as the “crypto dad” is known for his honest opinions and “do no harm” approach towards digital currencies and the blockchain technology.

The regulator talked about his agency’s stand and efforts towards the crypto space while adding the there is a considerable increase in the institutional participation in the crypto market. Giancarlo noted this to be a positive improvement saying that it will bring more maturity to the crypto market.

He further added: "We've still got a long way to go, there's a lot of issues in some of these spot exchanges, a lack of transparency, a lot of conflict of interest, a lack of systems and systems safeguards, and that's a concern. But you know, like all things, it takes time to mature, and with the movement of more institutional investors into the space, I think we'll see that [maturation].”

Furthermore, he also went to explain CFTC’s “two-handed” approach to deal with the crypto market while adding that the crypto market is still tainted with scams. “On one hand, we have very strong enforcement efforts. There are a lot of scammers, a lot of fraudsters in this marketplace. And we’re covering the beat for them and when we find them, we will be taking them out… Our authority in this area has just been confirmed by two federal courts, so we are really on this strongly,” the chairman stated.

Giancarlo was also quick to point out that his agency has been supportive when it came to letting more crypto products enter the market. He also added that his agency wants to see more innovation relating to blockchain products entering the U.S. crypto market.

He said: "It was under our watch that the very [first] two bitcoin futures products have emerged and according to the San Francisco Fed it was the bitcoin futures emerging that actually sapped the bitcoin bubble that emerged at the end of 2017 and we've seen bitcoin, perhaps, in some people's view, achieve a more sustainable level than it was during the bubble period last year.”

On the concluding note he said that the cryptocurrency is slowly emerging as a more mature financial instrument. “Like all things, it takes time to mature, and with the movement of more institutional investors into that space, I think we’ll see that maturation.”