CFTC Commissioner Recognizes Blockchain and Fintech Industry Potential

During the international meeting of regulators held last week, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) positively assessed the potential use of the blockchain, emphasizing that the agency should respect the role of technology in financial markets.

CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam called for "unbiased regulation" of the financial technology industry, in particular, noting a number of applications for the distributed registry (DLT) during his speech at the annual International Association of Swaps and Derivatives (ISDA) in Tokyo.

Regulatory agencies such as CFTC should better understand how new technologies work and their impact on global markets in order to help innovators safely access financial networks.

"I have come to understand that innovation at the edge allows others to be creative and pursue their dreams and missions," he said. "Just take a moment to think about all the possible use cases for DLT from agriculture to healthcare, finance to art, CryptoKitties to dogecoin. These innovations are more than just technology: They inspire us to find solutions for every problem or hurdle we encounter — and sometimes, they are just fun."

Behnam added that he took courses to learn more about the problems associated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets, DLT, artificial intelligence and cloud programming in an effort to better understand new technologies.

"I had no single goal in mind, just a desire to avoid being the typical regulator on the tail end of technological advancement, scurrying to keep pace with swift innovations that capture market efficiencies, open markets to new products and participants, and often reward those willing to take risk," he explained.

Recall that recently CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo said that the inflow of institutional investors could help the cryptocurrency market to "become mature". In addition, in recent months, the CFTC has tightened anti-cryptocurrency fraud measures. In mid-October, the Commission won a trial in a case against a bitcoin-related fraudulent scheme. 

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