Rostin Behnam, the head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), urged lawmakers on Wednesday to give the agency the right to take a leading role in policing cryptocurrencies.
He said Congress urgently needed to provide his agency additional authority and powers to better monitor the crypto market.
Behnam pointed out that the CFTC’s lack of authority to monitor the market could be the key reason for the escalation of fraud within the space.
On the need for further regulation, he highlighted the growing participation of retail investors in the space, pointing to recent studies suggesting that the amount of retail participation in the digital asset futures market is “more than double” other futures markets.
Before the meeting with the Senate Agriculture Committee, the CFTC had sent a letter to Congress explaining why the agency should be a central player in any crypto-regulatory regime.
Behnam’s statement came amid lawmakers and plans by the U.S. government to create a new structure for digital currencies.
For more information, read the original story in Reuters.
