U.S. CFTC Chairman: Crypto legislation takes time, and the acting chairman will play a role in future regulatory changes

Rostin Behnam, the outgoing chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), once again called on Congress to fill the gaps in cryptocurrency regulation. He said he would continue to advocate for the CFTC to move forward with the initiative even if he is no longer chairman. When a reporter from the Wall Street Journal later asked about the new year, Behnam said that cryptocurrency legislation would take time, citing the new presidential administration and the new composition of Congress. He noted that legislation would take six to ten months, and subsequent rulemaking by federal agencies would take a year. He also said that the acting chairman would play a role in future regulatory shifts. In presidential administration changes, the acting chairman usually temporarily leads the agency until they are appointed chairman or someone else serves as chairman. Behnam said: "I do think that the acting chief will change the way regulation is done on day one, and the current committee members have been talking about sandboxes and creating an environment where cryptocurrency participants can basically conduct business without having to worry about enforcement or regulation because it is a controlled environment." He added that the legislative efforts made by lawmakers including Debbie Stabenow and Patrick McHenry are "not perfect" but are still good moves. "I think the status quo, the existing regulations that we are in now, do not solve the problem." (The Block)