Better Markets challenges CFTC’s crypto oversight push

• Better Markets has criticised the CFTC’s plan to regulate retail crypto transactions.
• The group says CFTC oversight lacks protections available under SEC securities rules.
• The dispute centres on how federal agencies should regulate retail digital assets.

Better Markets has criticised the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) push to regulate retail crypto transactions.

The dispute follows CFTC plans to establish rules covering digital assets within its jurisdiction.

“The problem is crypto is not like futures,” according to Director of Securities Policy Benjamin Schiffrin.

Better Markets said the CFTC lacks the investor-protection mandate applied to securities markets overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The CFTC is the wrong agency to regulate transactions involving crypto assets by retail customers,” Schiffrin said.

The group also questioned the CFTC’s claim that its approach would help make the US the crypto capital of the world.

The disagreement reflects a broader policy debate over whether retail crypto should face commodity or securities-style oversight.

The dispute leaves the CFTC and SEC at the centre of competing approaches to US retail crypto oversight.