"Sometimes it seems that scammers and hackers understand the technology better than most market participants»

Yesterday, at 10.00 am Washington, the meeting of the us Senate Committee on banking, housing and urban Affairs took place, during which financial regulators discussed the current state of the cryptocurrency market. The theme of the hearing was titled: "Virtual currency: the Supervisory role of the Commission on securities and stock exchanges of the USA and the Commission on trade in commodity futures the United States."

The Chairman of the Commission on trade commodity futures (CFTC) George. Christopher Giancarlo to maintain a very positive view on the industry of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain, emphasizing the contribution of its fee. He also noted FINTECH-LabCFTC initiative aimed at the development of the blockchain, and oversight of the futures market for bitcoin.

At the same time, Giancarlo acknowledged that CFTC is limited in its influence due to the global nature of the cryptocurrency market. In turn, the Chairman of the us securities and exchange Commission (SEC) Jay Clayton noted that "the international character of the market makes local regulations insufficient" and called for regulation at the Federal level.

Speaking about the need for joint work, the government did not announce specific deadlines: "we will unite with our colleagues from the Ministry of Finance and the Federal reserve to discuss additional legislative measures," Jay Clayton said.

During the meeting, there were questions from senators who mentioned a lot of negative news that brought down the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including the recent break-in of the Japanese crypto-exchange Coincheck and the fall of the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies by $500 billion only in January. "Sometimes it seems that crooks and hackers understand technology better than most market participants," said Senator Sherrod brown, a representative of the Ohio Democratic party.

Clayton and Giancarlo believe that full-fledged final regulation is impossible, first of all, due to the fact that the technology is in the stage of development, and for its formation requires a certain time period. Giancarlo noted that the market is not only "new, evolving and international", but also "epochal" concerning several generations. The Chairman of the Senate banking Committee Mike Crapo agreed that the market today is still evolving.

Another issue raised during the meeting was the long-term impact of cryptocurrencies on the economy in the event of a market collapse, but Giancarlo did not support these concerns, noting the "relatively small" volumes of the industry. In the Wake of the bullish market in late November, another position was held by a member of the governing Council of the ECB Evald Novotny, who feared that the collapse of the crypto market will blame the Central banks.

Regulators paid particular attention to the problem of fraud and recognized the dangers of an unregulated market: "if people are deceived, it leads to reputation risks that can have a systemic effect," said Clayton. And Giancarlo noted that especially important is the support of the older generation, which should be formed in the field of crypto-currencies and be protected from risks: "Older people become the target of scammers and manipulators. This applies to the market of precious metals and foreign exchanges."