CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero had the opportunity to share her thoughts on the current state of exchange oversight. She believes that these crypto exchanges should not self-certify tokens. The commissioner thus calls for an intensification of surveillance, citing the case of the bankruptcy of FTX. But industry watchers disagree. They see in the fall of the FTX, an event that could have happened in any sector.
We must ban self-certification to ensure better surveillance of crypto-exchanges
A crypto-sphere-focused event was held at the University of Pennsylvania on January 18. On this occasion, Christy Goldsmith Romero, commissioner of the CFTC, spoke about the current environment of the crypto sector. For her, crypto exchanges should not self-certify tokens and other crypto products before they go live on their platforms. She is thus asking Congress to no longer authorize this practice and to list the tokens without supervision.
The commissioner also stressed the importance of instituting safeguards against regulatory arbitrage, including prohibiting the use of self-certification. Currently, exchanges can self-certify the security of their product before listing it, unless the CFTC does not block the quotation within 24 hours. She also said that surveillance entities “ should have seriously challenged FTX’s operating environment in the run-up to its collapse “.
The fall of FTX is not linked to a lack of regulation
Other observers, however, say the opposite about the exchanges. According to them, the FTX case should have no connection to the digital asset space, or to a lack of regulation. For Ludovic Shum, managing director of Swiss crypto bank SEBA Hong Kong, FTX’s downfall could have happened in any other industry. It could have happened to banks, asset managers or securities.
As for Lacklan Feeney, founder and CEO of Labrys, he believes that the industry needs more oversight. To prevent such a disaster from happening again, there should be no new regulations for exchanges. We simply need more clarity on the existing regulations.
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