The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (US CFTC) has made it known that the development of a comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory strategy is among its top priorities. The US CFTC finalized their four-year strategic plan on Wednesday. This comes after the strategic plan was unanimously approved by the commission in May and the mandatory 30-day comment window lapsed.
Among the final 2020-2024 CFTC Strategic Plan’s objectives is to “address the risks and opportunities arising from 21st century commodities.” The plan explicitly notes that the CFTC will, ” develop a holistic framework to promote responsible innovation in digital assets.”
The four-year plan runs through 2024, which coincides with the end of CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert’s term. Tarbert is widely respected by the cryptocurrency community for his understanding of digital assets and emerging technologies, including the blockchain. Earlier Tarbert talked about cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create guidelines for cryptocurrency assets such as bitcoin.
In an accompanying release, the CFTC noted, “Financial markets quickly adopt emerging technologies, and our derivatives markets have experienced an amazing digital transformation.”
While the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission is responsible for regulating and enforcing derivative markets, the Commission also prevents market manipulation and other forms of commodity trading fraud. With today’s developments, digital asset exchanges are now officially on the CFTC’s radar. This coincides with the launch of the first US ether futures contracts earlier this year.
The Technology Advisory Committee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to meet on July 16, 2020. The Technology Advisory Committee is expected to hear presentations regarding Cybersecurity, Virtual Currencies, Automated and Modern Trading Markets, and Distributed Ledger Technology.
More information about the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s strategic plan can be found at www.cftc.gov.
