Regulators should not determine which asset classes or securities are legitimate. This opinion was expressed by Christopher Giancarlo, the former chairman of the Commission for Futures Trading of the United States (CFTC).
He took part in the main panel discussion at the Digital Asset Compliance and Market Integrity Summit in New York, along with the ex-head OCC Brian Brooks. Both speakers noted that the current approach to industry regulation is causing problems.
Giancarlo led the CFTC, which oversees the derivatives market, in 2017. Then the exchanges turned to the department CME and Cboe regarding the possibility of launching futures for the first cryptocurrency.
“It was remarkable how much pressure was put on the Commission to suspend or terminate the certification of bitcoin futures. And it was not only regulators, although a large group of them from the US and from abroad called us and said:“ Don’t let this, because you legalize bitcoin, ”said Giancarlo.
During that period, many banks and traditional financial institutions were against the approval of crypto derivatives, he said.
“It is not for me, as an unelected bureaucrat, but for the market to determine the legitimacy of an activity. And the only way the market could do this is to allow it to enter it,” Giancarlo said.
Brooks echoed his sentiment, noting that regulators should not pick winners and losers in the Web 3.0 industry.
“We do not ask SEC make judgments about which cars are better – Tesla or Buick. We let the market decide this, “he said.
Earlier, Giancarlo expressed the opinion that the SEC should not regulate bitcoin, since this is the prerogative of the CFTC.
Recall that in September he left the board of directors of the BlockFi crypto-lending platform and continued his cooperation as a consultant.
Brooks took over as CEO of blockchain company Bitfury Group in November. Prior to that, he served on the board of directors of the Spring Labs startup as an independent member and briefly headed Binance US.
