By Tory Newmeyer. April 28, 2022. (Washington Post)
As Washington policymakers wrangle over how to oversee cryptocurrency, a new bipartisan proposal would give the rapidly expanding sector a victory by handing authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), seen by the industry as a more benevolent regulator.
The bill — introduced Thursday by Republican Reps. Glenn Thompson (Pa.) and Tom Emmer (Minn.) and Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna (Calif.) and Darren Soto (Fla.) — would allow crypto trading platforms to register with the CFTC.
Crypto interests have been pressing for months to empower the relatively small agency tasked with regulating financial derivatives to oversee digital assets.They view it as a friendlier option than the Securities and Exchange Commission, where Chair Gary Gensler has described the crypto industry as rife with scams and pursued aggressive enforcement cases.