Altcoin News: SEC Commissioner Favors Self-Regulation of Cryptocurrency Markets

March 11, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce advocated the self-regulation of cryptocurrency markets when possible. She announced this last weekend.

In particular, the representative of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expressed her opinion during a joint speech with the former Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Gary Gensler at MIT Bitcoin Expo 2019.

The context of Hester Peirce’s remarks was Gensler’s proposal on the need for a more reliable and unified regulatory framework at the national level for cryptocurrency markets. According to Gensler, it should cover not only trading platforms that offer tokens-stocks or complex investment instruments but also those sites that add to the listing classic cryptocurrencies, defined by the CFTC as exchange goods. To this, Pierce replied:

“One really important thing to remember is that people regulate each other in their interactions with one another, and that’s the whole purpose of the Bitcoin idea, that it would be a community that would be able to regulate itself. As problems arise, people in that community are thinking about how to deal with those problems. One model would be to have a government regulator, but I don’t think that’s the only model.”

Arguments by Gensler in favor of expanding regulation at the national level for a wider range of cryptocurrency operations focused on improving investor protection, coordinating the prevention of money laundering and eliminating existing inconsistencies in regulatory framework across states.

In a short debate with Gensler on resolving this jurisdictional regulatory fragmentation, Pierce emphasized the status quo in which states have a legislative obligation to enforce money transfer laws in accordance with the Banking Secrets Act, but can nevertheless regulate aspects of cryptocurrency markets in varying degrees. She then stated:

“That’s the regulatory model we’ve chosen. I think, again, these markets could regulate themselves if we lived in a world where we allowed that.”

Pierce also advocated softer regulation when possible. Nevertheless, she confirmed that the proposals for the issue of securities should comply with the requirements of the SEC. In addition, she supported the ongoing efforts of the largest cryptocurrency platforms to register with the agency, either as exchanges or as alternative trading platforms in order to be able to properly list tokens.

In February, Pierce also stated that the delay in regulation could benefit the cryptocurrency market. At the end of last year, Pierce said that a Bitcoin ETF could be approved both tomorrow and 20 years later, and in November she said that a Bitcoin ETF is definitely possible.

Author: Marko Vidrih