WASHINGTON—A Senate committee is set to propose legislation that would assign oversight of the two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether, to Commodities Futures Trading Commission.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and top-ranking Republican John Boozman of (R-AR), are planning as early as today to introduce a bill as early as today that would empower the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate spot markets for digital commodities, a newly created asset class, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Currently the CFTC has authority to police derivatives, such as futures and swaps, rather than underlying commodities.
‘Latest Salvo’
“The bill marks the latest salvo in an intensifying battle among federal agencies and congressional committees that oversee them over who will regulate crypto,” the Journal reported. “Thirteen years after bitcoin was created, cryptocurrencies remain largely unregulated by the federal government, leaving investors without key protections from fraud and market manipulation.
“The competition for jurisdiction heated up in recent months as a meltdown in crypto markets underscored the need for guardrails in the eyes of many policy makers,” the report continued. “The competition also reflects the industry’s ramped-up lobbying presence in Washington and its push to reach more mainstream investors through Super Bowl ads and other high-profile marketing initiatives.”