SEC Chair Urges US Regulators to Collaborate on Crypto Market Oversight

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins stated that the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should establish a closer regulatory collaboration mechanism, especially in the enforcement and rule application of crypto assets. He pointed out that financial products operating in the same market environment should not trigger duplicate or conflicting enforcement actions due to the ambiguous division of regulatory responsibilities.

"Fragmented, overlapping regulation does not enhance deterrence but only creates confusion," Atkins emphasized. When a product involves both securities and commodity attributes, companies should not be shuffled back and forth between the two regulatory agencies, and the clarity of regulation should not depend on which agency speaks first. To promote synergy, the SEC has launched a joint meeting mechanism to review product applications with the CFTC and has launched a dedicated regulatory coordination website.

Currently, the SEC is led by three Republican commissioners, while the CFTC has only one Senate-confirmed commissioner, Selig, who is the only Republican commissioner in office. According to convention, the CFTC should be composed of five bipartisan commissioners, but the vacancy has not been filled since the departure of former Acting Chairman Caroline Pham. As of press time, U.S. President Trump has not nominated any new commissioners, and the leadership of the two major regulatory agencies remains incomplete, and the market remains uncertain about the uniformity of the crypto asset regulatory framework.