Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt says he expects a “fair amount” of crypto-regulation from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the confirmation of the new chairman.
Former SEC chairman expects fair amount of new Crypto regulation
Harvey Pitt spoke under the new chairman, Gary Gensler, about the future of cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday. Pitt is the U.S. Attorney who was the 26th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2001 to 2003.
With the market debut of Coinbase via a direct listing on Nasdaq, Pitt was asked what he expects to happen with the regulation of cryptocurrencies and exchanges of cryptocurrencies. The former SEC chairman said:
I expect to see a fair amount of regulation of cryptocurrencies. At the moment I think the rules are unclear.
“Whether or not certain offers involve securities is unclear. Chances are the SEC will move forward. Gary Gensler is an expert on cryptocurrencies. He learned about them. He is a market expert, ”Pitt continued. “I would expect clear road rules to develop under his leadership.”
Gensler, a crypto professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was confirmed last week as chairman of the SEC. He was sworn in as a member of the SEC on Saturday.
Pitt was also asked whether the SEC should be the regulator of cryptocurrencies and whether it should be the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), of which Gensler was a former chairman. Pitt further shared:
There is a real question as to where jurisdictions lie and that legislation may be needed. The SEC has already taken the position that bitcoin and ethereum are not securities and that there is therefore no regulatory involvement with the SEC.
The former chairman further explained that companies such as Coinbase, “which effectively markets markets in cryptocurrencies”, are subject to SEC regulations, and therefore the commission will indirectly influence the way these cryptocurrencies are marketed.
Recently, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce also said that she is “optimistic” that under the new chairman who has deep knowledge of the crypto markets, the SEC can build a good regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Do you think the SEC will introduce many new crypto-regulations? Let us know in the comments below.
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