The Financial Times reported that President Gary Gensler asked Congress to authorize his agency so that it could better govern the market. It remains unclear which agency oversees the cryptocurrency industry, as regulators mostly classify bitcoin as more of a commodity than a security.
It is estimated that less than 10% of the world is currently aware of cryptography. However, it is still a large enough number that regulators have started to look for ways to properly regulate these digital assets. It's no longer just retail investors who are trying to make some quick profits in highly volatile markets. Institutional investors have also thrown their hat in the ring, as in the case of Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy.
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Finance is about trust
Gensler believes that if the market is to grow, it needs to embrace regulation. the president of SEC explained that regulation would give confidence to the market, which is important if the market does not want to become irrelevant over time. “Finance is ultimately about trust,” said Gensler. Gensler's focus is primarily on trading platforms, as this is where the majority (~95%) of activity in the crypto market takes place.
Gensler had previously suggested that cryptographic platforms register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This was met with disdain from investors who do not want government control over cryptocurrencies. But President Gray Gensler has once again asked these platforms to register with the regulations. “Talk to us, come in,” Gensler said.
"There are a lot of platforms in operation today that would do better at engagement and instead there's a bit of begging for forgiveness rather than asking for permission."
There have been repressions taking place in the cryptographic space on exchanges. The most prominent of these was the repression of Binance by several countries. BlockFi has had a regulatory clash with three states and, more recently, the Uniswap being investigated by the SEC.
The cryptocurrency market will benefit from regulation
Regulation may not be an easy topic in cryptography, but it doesn't make it any less important. Exchanges already realize that if they want to grow in the long term, they will have to work with regulators.
To that end, Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and co-founder of FTX Exchange, said in an interview that he was taking regulation “extremely seriously”. The CEO believes that working with regulators will ensure the industry's survival. Adding to these exchanges working with regulators will ensure that the rules being created do not harm the market, "killing use for it in the first place."
It is not yet clear where most cryptographic products fall under regulatory practices. But Gensler believes that decentralized financial platforms are under the SEC's purview. "It doesn't matter if it's a stock token, a stable value token backed by bonds, or any other virtual product that provides synthetic exposure to the underlying bonds," Gensler told the Aspen Security Forum. "These products are subject to securities laws and must operate within our securities regime."