On Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler spoke at the Aspen Security Forum, about seeking new powers to regulate crypto markets.

As per report in a Bloomberg interview, Gensler showed keenness to protect the investors in the asset class from frauds,scams and abuse in certain applications where the rules regarding crypto assets are less clear. There is lack of rigorous checks and lack of complete information for investors. SEC chairman wants stricter regulation for the $1.6 trillion digital-asset market. US securities regulator has asked Congress to act as he said “We need additional congressional authorities to prevent transactions, products and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks. I also think we need more resources. ”

 In May, SEC chairman called Congress to work on legislation to give the SEC clear rules paths for platforms that involve in crypto trading or lending in at least seven crypto areas including decentralised finance, or DeFi, stablecoins,custody, exchange-traded funds (ETF) and lending platforms. As per Gensler, “legislative priority” needs rules focussing on exchange. According to him digital assets could boost economic progress and become more widely used. Gensler indicated a possible pathway for approval of Bitcoin exchange traded funds. Crypto regulations might be on the slow progress for now as currently 49 non-crypto-related policy matters are there which the Commission has to work now.

How will it work:

As suggested by Gensler, SEC to regulate crypto assets would work under its existing authority which can be defined as securities under US law. The platform that does not meet requirement, SEC will work with such securities to register them. Products that are subject to the securities laws must work within our securities regime includes a stock token, a stable value token backed by securities or any other virtual product which provides synthetic exposure to underlying securities.

Indrani bose

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA