In short
- The CFTC has added senior executives from cryptocurrency, finance, and trading firms to its Innovation Advisory Board.
- Although the definition of who regulates cryptocurrency spot and derivatives markets has been largely resolved, lawmakers remain divided over the CLARITY Act’s handling of stablecoins.
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong joined the panel weeks after withdrawing his support for the Senate bill due to concerns about regulatory balance.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday appointed dozens of senior cryptocurrency executives to its Innovation Advisory Board, bringing much of the digital asset industry into its advisory orbit as Congress continues to grapple with unresolved issues about U.S. cryptocurrency regulation.
The committee includes executives from Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, Ripple, Kraken, Robinhood, CME Group and Nasdaq, and represents an unusually high concentration of industry participation by an agency that currently regulates cryptocurrency derivatives but not spot trading.
Established last month, the committee aims to provide regulators with expertise and recommendations on financial market innovation.
CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said: name on Thursday The panel will help the agency “future-proof the market” and develop clearer rules as technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence reshape the financial landscape.
“By bringing together players from all corners of the market, IAC will be a key asset to the Commission as it works to modernize its rules and regulations for current and future innovation,” Selig said.
This comes as lawmakers continue to debate the nuances of the CLARITY Act, which seeks to regulate the U.S. cryptocurrency market by defining when digital assets are subject to the oversight of securities or commodities.
Specifically, the bill aims to clarify the boundaries between the CFTC’s oversight of digital goods and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority over security tokens.
While this distinction has been broadly accepted across political parties, lawmakers and industry players remain divided over how the bill treats stablecoins, particularly whether cryptocurrency companies should be allowed to offer yield on dollar-pegged tokens.
This is an issue that has drawn continued pressure from the banking industry and has emerged as the bill’s most controversial provision.
Despite these ongoing disagreements, the CFTC welcomed the addition of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to the committee.
A few weeks ago, Armstrong drew support The CLARITY Act cites concerns about bank lobby-driven restrictions on stablecoin compensation.
The move complicated the bill’s path in the Senate, and Armstrong said the draft “There are too many problems,” including provisions that could limit tokenized products, limit DeFi, and limit stablecoin rewards rather than market structure jurisdiction.
Armstrong also warned that the bill would weaken the CFTC’s authority, arguing it risks “stifling innovation” by making the CFTC “subservient to the SEC.”
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