Finance Leaders Urge CFTC Chairman To Help Create New Digital Assets Regulation

A group of financial leaders has urged the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to help create a new regulatory framework for digital assets that would enable the development of new financial products and services based on blockchain technology.

In a letter to CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, the group urged him to support legislation that would allow companies to offer derivatives based on digital assets such as bitcoin and ether.

We believe it is imperative that you act now to fundamentally reform our outdated regulatory framework, the signatories — including former New York State controller Thomas DiNapoli, former Goldman Sachs executive Richard Ketchum, former SEC commissioner Kara Stein and OpenMarket LLC chief executive Alexey Tereshchenko — wrote in a letter dated Jan. 22 and published Monday.

The signatories argue that the current regulatory requirements for cryptocurrencies are outdated and ineffective. The letter also highlights how cryptocurrencies can provide faster settlement times than traditional financial systems, which can be used to reduce costs for companies engaging in international trade finance transactions.