Rostin Behnam, the chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has expressed his belief that Ethereum and stablecoins should fall under the purview of the agency’s regulation, as they can be categorized as commodities.
Behnam’s comments came during a recent Senate meeting on agriculture, where he was questioned by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand regarding the differing viewpoints of the CFTC and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on cryptocurrency regulation.
Behnam explained that the CFTC, rather than the SEC, has the authority to regulate stablecoins, noting that the SEC has recently increased pressure on Paxos, the issuer of BUSD.
He also referenced the settlement of the lawsuit involving Tether in 2021, noting that the CFTC’s enforcement department had deemed the USDT stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar, to be a commodity.
Furthermore, he stated that he would not have allowed the launch of ether futures if he did not firmly believe that ether is also a commodity.
According to Behnam, if a regulator takes any action without a strong legal basis, their credibility could be compromised.
He had previously stated that only Bitcoin can be considered a commodity, but his latest comments contradict statements made by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who considers all cryptocurrencies, other than Bitcoin, to be securities.
This disparity in viewpoints among regulators may cause a delay in the creation of a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry, as each agency vies for control over the sector.