CFTC Chair Says ‘Another Cycle of Enforcement Actions’ Coming As Crypto Enters New Phase of Asset Appreciation

The chairperson of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Rostin Behnam is warning that the crypto industry is likely to face more headwinds from regulators over the coming months.

Speaking at the 2024 Milken Institute Global Conference, the CFTC chair says that the crypto industry will “probably see in the next six to 18 months or six to 24 months another cycle of enforcement actions” amid “asset appreciation and [renewed] interest by retail investors.”

According to Behnam, the goal of the enforcement actions is to protect investors.

“Without a regulatory framework, without that transparency, without those tools that we typically use as regulators, you are going to continue to see this fraud and manipulation.

And putting aside the legitimacy and where this technology may go and what role it might play in our economy and commerce, the internet, digital assets generally… we just have to think about things from a regulatory and consumer protection standpoint. And I think that needs to be our guiding light in terms of driving this conversation, filling these regulatory gaps and creating this framework that’s ultimately going to protect American investors.”

The CFTC chair also says there’s “common ground” among US lawmakers on the kind of regulations that crypto assets require.

“There’s a sustainability to this asset class. There’s obviously been a growth over the past six months. And obviously, we have to deal with a lot of bad events from 2022 that scarred the industry…

…but the fact of the matter is even though or despite what happened in 2022, here we find ourselves with a growing market, growing capital investment and growing market capitalization and I think a renewed interest by a lot of the entrepreneurs.”

Generated Image: DALLE3