A new bill championed by leading Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee aims to make the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the direct regulator of Bitcoin and Ether.
The bill thus joins a growing list of laws aimed at clarifying the rules governing cryptocurrencies, as the sector remain largely unregulated.
The law requires companies offering crypto services including brokers, custodians, and exchanges, to register with the CFTC. Registration will cover various requirements aimed at maintaining fair prices, preventing market manipulation, avoiding conflicts of interest, and maintaining “adequate financial resources.”
Supporters of the bill, Debbie Stabenow, Chairworman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Senator John Boozman, say the bill will bring clarity to the crypto market by placing much of its policing under a single regulator.
“This fast-growing industry is now governed largely by a patchwork of regulations at the state level. That simply is not an effective way to protect consumers from fraud,” Boozman said in a statement.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.