SEC plans to tighten regulation of cryptocurrencies

The head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler said that cryptocurrency can only go mainstream if regulators establish clear rules for the $ 1.6 trillion digital asset market. At the same time, he noted that investors need additional protection against fraud.

Gensler believes that regulating cryptocurrency exchanges will help gain more control over cryptocurrencies. In May, he called on the US Congress to amend legislation that would expand the SEC's powers to oversee trading floors. And already now the organization is studying at least seven market areas: ICO (Initial coin offering), trading platforms, lending platforms, decentralized financing or DeFi, stablecoins, storage and exchange-traded funds. In general, the SEC is confident that digital assets can accelerate economic progress and be used more widely.

The main issue of cryptocurrency regulation remains the problem of the jurisdiction of this sector. Regulators cannot yet come to a concrete answer, noting that bitcoin is more like a commodity than a security, which puts the largest cryptocurrency outside the purview of the SEC. At the same time, there is an opinion that DeFi lending may be subject to the supervision of the SEC, since it often involves a certain interest income. In addition, platforms that pool digital assets can be akin to mutual funds, which means that the SEC can regulate them as well.