On Jan. 20, Rostin Behnam will step down as CFTC chair, leaving a legacy of enforcement and advocating for stricter cryptocurrency industry regulation.
After a four-year term that included numerous enforcement actions in the cryptocurrency industry and calls for stricter regulation, Rostin Behnam, the chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will leave her position on January 20.
According to a January 7 Financial Times article, Behnam managed well-known cases, including a $4.3 billion settlement with Binance. Still, he has voiced concerns about the digital asset market’s absence of regulatory control.
Because “a large swath of the digital asset space” is uncontrolled in the US, Benham told the FT that he was worried about regulating digital assets and called it “insufficient.”
Benham underlined the necessity of strict control as he got ready to leave office to meet the increasing adoption requests and maintain market integrity.
Behnam demands more regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
During his tenure, he oversaw the CFTC’s expansion of regulation to include digital assets and the finalization of federal guidelines for carbon offset trading.
Additionally, the government took legal action against Binance for operating as an unregulated cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform in the United States and not adhering to rules.
Rostin Behnam allegedly drew attention to the regulatory “gap” in cryptocurrency markets, contending that many digital tokens are commodities and ought to be governed by the CFTC.
Behnam emphasized the significance of deliberate regulation and advocated for a “very disciplined” approach to rewriting guided by the law.
He demanded that his successor give the cryptocurrency industry “renewed focus” so that boundaries between “permissible and impermissible” are more clearly defined.
The top choice of A16z’s executive for Behnam’s replacement
According to reports, Brian Quintenz, the head of policy at Andreessen Horowitz’s cryptocurrency business, a16z, and a former CFTC commissioner, was the frontrunner to succeed Behnam on December 12.
Given Quintenz’s experience managing significant policy efforts at the CFTC from 2017 to 2021, his appointment as chair may resolve the long-standing jurisdictional ambiguity surrounding cryptocurrency.
As head of policy at a16z, the former CFTC commissioner promotes financial innovation in the digital asset sector.
