The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is calling on Congress for assistance to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges. In a recent hearing, SEC chair Gary Gensler pointed out that crypto exchanges are growing increasingly important, but very few rules govern them. Gary Gensler, who was sworn in as the SEC chair recently, has been calling for regulation towards digital currencies since then. In a recent hearing before the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee at the House of Representatives, he reiterated this point.
“I think that there are gaps in our current system.”
US SEC chief told the subcommittee, “I think that there are gaps in our current system.” The SEC has continued to make diligent efforts to regulate the growing cryptocurrency industry. However, “there are thousands of tokens, and we’ve only been able to bring 75 actions against digital currency offenders. There are many others that are non-compliant,” he added. “I think the bigger gap is around cryptocurrency exchanges, and I would think we could work with Congress to try and bring investor protections to the platforms where these ‘sometimes commodities, sometimes currencies’ are trading from,” Gary Gensler noted.
US SEC chief wants to establish “rules of the road” to protect investors.
US SEC chief Gary Gensler believes that establishing “rules of the road” is important to protect investors. He pointed to the traditional markets such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq as two efficiently-run markets in which investors are protected against illegal practices. Gensler, who previously served as CFTC chair, said he has been working with his former agency to establish ‘who does what’ in the ecosystem. Gensler had previously heaped praise on cryptocurrencies, describing them as new thinking to payments.
