Crypto Has Changed — CFTC Withdraws Years-Old Virtual Currency Rules

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that it is investigating whether it has the authority to regulate bitcoin and other digital currencies, Reuters reports. "We are looking into that," Mark Wetjen, the CFTC's acting chairman, said at an industry conference. "It's been initiated, there's been an internal discussion at the staff level." The CFTC, which regulates the swaps and futures market, is studying whether bitcoin falls under the same rules as commodities markets, according to Wetjen. He said: "I think people [within the CFTC] believe there's a pretty good....

The CFTC has issued new guidance for crypto derivatives markets that hold customer funds, much of which boils down to "be very, very careful." Per guidance released Wednesday evening, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is advising businesses trading in crypto derivatives to hold customer funds very carefully.The new guidance continues the CFTC's interest in carving out rules for custodianship of virtual currencies — an area obviously distinct from any other asset class. Per the commission: "Custodians of virtual currencies are typically not subject to a system of comprehensive....

Bitcoin has been labeled as many things in mainstream media over the past six years. First reports called Bitcoin nothing more than “magic internet money”, which later changed to “virtual money” and eventually the term “cryptocurrency”. However, there is still a lot of confusion about whether Bitcoin is a digital currency or virtual currency. In order to....

Bitcoin is now a commodity according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). On Thursday the organization publicly stated it had settled with a Bitcoin exchange for trading option contracts after an enforcement case against a Bitcoin operator. "In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities," according to the press release. CFTC now has authority to oversee cryptocurrency futures and options. Bitcoin derivatives and futures platforms must register as a swap execution facility or designated contract....

The chairman of the US derivatives regulator has told a senate committee that digital currency derivatives fall within his agency's remit. Timothy Massad, who chairs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), testified before the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry yesterday, noting that while his agency does not have specific rules governing digital currencies, it would oversee futures and swaps in any commodity. This includes digital currencies, he said. He added: "While the CFTC does not have policies and procedures specific to virtual currencies like....