CFTC Ramps Up Regulations in Mobile Payments Technology

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been especially busy this fiscal year. How busy? How about $900 million in penalties busy? That’s actually higher than five of the eight years Obama was in the White House, and it all traces back to one major issue: cryptocurrency.

The CFTC has been pursuing an increasingly large number of cryptocurrency-related cases as well as spoofing schemes, which brought out a substantial number of penalties. Substantial enough for chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo to noted that this last year has “…been among the most vigorous in the history of the CFTC.”

The numbers paint an even more “vigorous” picture beyond the penalties handed down. This year, the CFTC has seen five times the number of spoofing cases, and also hit several major banks on interest-rate benchmark manipulation. With a recent court case that declared cryptocurrencies to be commodities, the CFTC could pursue crypto regulation with all the fervor it could muster.

There will be figures coming up for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but reports suggest that fines are already well off previous highs, and the latest news for 2018 suggests the numbers could drop off again.

Former CFTC enforcement lawyer and special counsel for Katten Muchin Rosenman Gary DeWaal noted “They’ve tried to clarify some of their emphases — we know that cryptocurrency fraud is an issue, manipulation, insider trading is an issue, and they’re very focused on spoofing.”

With prices cratering in the crypto markets in general, and some significant issues starting to show up at exchanges like Bittrex, it’s small wonder the CFTC is focusing a little harder on this technology. This could, actually, be the start of the process of going mainstream, especially considering the significant uptick in regulatory moves against it. In order for cryptocurrency to go mainstream, it needs to be seen as pure, beyond reproach, and sufficiently controlled to prevent fly-by-night operations from stepping in and walking off with a big slug of unearned cash.

The CFTC’s efforts might be seen as unnecessary by some, but for cryptocurrency to go mainstream, it needs to be no longer seen as the first stop for criminal operations.