The leaders of the two federal agencies that hold the fate of U.S. crypto in their hands held an event Thursday intended to signal their commitment to developing crypto policies.
Even as crypto legislation moves in fits and starts in Congress, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are trying to advance regulatory policy to give the industry some comfort in doing business in the United States. The CFTC has a new head, Mike Selig, who was sworn in last month after his Senate confirmation and is already moving forward on crypto initiatives.
“Chairman Selig brings to the CFTC precisely what the present moment demands: a deep respect for market integrity, coupled with a practical understanding of how innovation drives prosperity for the American people,” said SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, whose first year at the helm has already represented a radical reversal of his Democratic predecessor Gary Gensler’s stance on the digital assets sector. He said the agencies “will deploy every tool at our disposal to reduce friction, harmonize standards and definitions where appropriate, and provide confidence to markets as Congress completes its vital work.”
The SEC is responsible for the securities, and this will include tokenization and all cryptocurrencies expected to check that box, although major tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum ether are under the jurisdiction of the CFTC.
The event appears to be a redux of a previous joint meeting between Atkins and Selig’s immediate predecessor, Caroline Pham, then-acting president.
