SEC Chair Gary Gensler Says There Should Be Federal Regulatory Regime Around Crypto Exchanges

The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is doubling down on his call to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges.

During the Global Exchanges & FinTech virtual conference held by Piper Sandler, Gary Gensler called for establishing a federal regulatory regime for them to ensure investor protection:

Crypto assets are largely traded on exchanges, and the public should have investor protection regimes around them. We need a federal regime where they are registered and regulated.

Back in May, the SEC urged Congress to bring regulatory clarity to cryptocurrency trading platforms while raising concerns over fraud and market manipulation.

In addition, Gensler is considering revamping rules that govern stock trading.

During his latest CNBC interview, he said that crypto assets should have the same protections as equities and commodities: 

Here’s what I’m pretty confident about. Investors don’t have full protections that they have in the equities markets or in the commodity futures markets…Bitcoin and these other cryptocurrencies don’t have these full protections. It’s a speculative asset class.