The agency has no enforcement resources without Congress | News Sept 22

Dan Berkovitz, one of three commissioners currently serving on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said that while the agency is relevant to trading futures, swaps and options, additional resources will be needed to expand the cash market for crypto Process assets.

Speaking at the Managed Funds Association’s Digital Assets Conference on Tuesday, Berkovitz said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) crypto enforcement measures are “tough,” citing a $ 100 million civil penalty against the company BitMEX derivatives exchange. While he said the agency has the “capacity and expertise” to further regulate crypto assets, it is currently unable to do so due to “resource issues”.

“If Congress decides that our jurisdiction should be expanded to regulate the cash market in any way, then we’re really going to need more resources,” said Berkovitz. “Cryptocurrency market, we don’t necessarily strive for more authority without more resources. We are on our track. “

Berkovitz noted that there was “a lot of coordination” between the agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the companies’ Federal Deposit Insurance and Treasury Department. The CFTC worked with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to resolve the BitMEX case and has coordinated with the SEC to investigate crypto trading applications.

“We all know the lanes we are driving on,” says Berkovitz. “I think the coordination is really excellent.”

The CFTC commissioner also redoubled his June remarks that decentralized financial platforms might be illegal under the Commodity Exchange Act. According to Berkovitz, there is a “centralized spectrum” around projects in the DeFi space that could result in them being registered with the CFTC.

Related: CFTC renewed: Biden’s new agency decides which crypto regulation it wants to maintain

The CFTC normally has five commissioners, but the agency was rocked by the departures of former Presidents Heath Tarbert in January and Brian Quintenz on August 31. Berkovitz has also announced that he plans to leave the committee on October 15. Chair actors Rostin Behnam and Dawn Stump.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden said he planned to nominate Behnam to hold his position on a permanent basis, in addition to filling the remaining seats with law professor Kristin Johnson and former SEC enforcement officer Christy Goldsmith Romero. All have to be ratified by the Democratically controlled Senate, but the White House has yet to announce a possible replacement for Berkovitz.