UK Treasury Sheds Light on Upcoming Crypto Regulations
The UK Treasury has published a consultation paper on the country’s upcoming cryptocurrency regulation. The 80-page document covers various topics, from algorithmic stablecoins to NFTs and ICOs. It seeks to put the UK’s financial services sector at the forefront of crypto while avoiding strict control measures. Crypto companies will fall under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but the Financial Conduct Authority will tailor the existing rules for the digital assets market. Crypto firms will not have to report market data regularly, but exchanges will be required to keep and make it available. The consultation will close on April 30th, and the British government welcomes responses from all stakeholders.
Australia’s Crypto Taxonomy: A Public Conversation
Australia’s national regulators have opened a public consultation for their taxonomy of crypto assets. The Australian Treasury released a consultation paper on “token mapping,” which proposes four types of crypto-related products: crypto asset services, intermediated crypto assets, network tokens, and smart contracts. We have developed our own token taxonomy, which you can learn about in this talk by Alex Tapscott (minute 20:00).
FTX Founder’s Bail Guarantors Names to be Made Public
A U.S. judge has ruled in favour of several media outlets, including Reuters, that sought the names of two people who helped secure bail for FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The names will be made public, but the judge has put his ruling on hold pending an expected appeal. The judge stated that the public has only a “weak” right to know who Bankman-Fried’s guarantors are, but it outweighs the arguments for confidentiality. Bankman-Fried has been confined at his parents’ home in California after pleading not guilty to fraud for allegedly looting billions of FTX customer dollars.
New Congress, New Opportunities: CFTC Seeks Authority on Crypto Regulation
The chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, is pushing for the CFTC to have the authority to regulate non-security tokens in the crypto industry. Behnam is engaging with the new Congress to provide technical assistance in drafting legislation, citing bankruptcies and failures as reasons why regulation is necessary to protect customers and prevent financial market failures. The CFTC enforcement team has brought 69 crypto-related actions to date, and Behnam says the budget increases for the commission will help grow the team. The political makeup of Congress may determine if the CFTC is given additional authority, with a bill introduced in 2022 to clarify the roles of the CFTC and the SEC in crypto regulation.
