key takeaways
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CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam believes that stablecoins and ether are going to be commodities.
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The CFTC has always maintained that bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies are commodities.
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Behnam has called for a proper regulatory framework to cover the cryptocurrency market.
Stable coins and Ether will be treated as commodities
Rostin Behnam, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told the United States Senate that ether and stablecoins should be considered commodities.
He made the statement during a Senate agriculture hearing on Wednesday, March 8. When asked by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about the differing views held by the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the CFTC’s settlement with stablecoin issuer Tether in 2021, Behnam said that the agency will allow stablecoins Commodity is considered. They said;
“Despite a regulatory framework around stable coins, they are going to become commodities in my view. It was clear to our enforcement team and the Commission that Tether, a stablecoin, was a commodity.
The CFTC had said that some digital assets, including bitcoin and ether, are commodities.
When asked what evidence the agency would use to win regulatory influence on ether during a Senate hearing, the CFTC chairman said it would not allow ether futures products to be listed on CFTC exchanges if it did not believe that It was a commodity asset. They said that;
“We risk litigation, we risk the credibility of the agency if we do something like this without serious legal protections to back up our argument.” [the] Property is a commodity.
A regulatory framework is still needed for crypto in the United States
It is left to the SEC and CFTC to regulate cryptocurrency companies in the United States. However, there is no clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrency companies to operate in the United States.
The SEC has been very active in regulating cryptocurrency companies that it believes are in violation of securities laws.
last month, SEC charges Nishad SinghA former lead engineer at cryptocurrency exchange FTX defrauded investors of the now-collapsed crypto trading platform.
regulatory body is also robinhood investigation on its cryptocurrency activities.