By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – Bitcoin remained steady Tuesday as Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler called on Congress to grant the U.S. financial watchdog more power to keep a closer eye on the cryptocurrency market.
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BTC/USD fell 2% to $38,134.
Gensler said the framework to determine whether a cryptocurrency was a security is “clear,” but conceded that there were some gaps in the framework that could be plugged if the SEC were given more resources as well as a wider purview over digital assets.
“We need additional Congressional authorities to prevent transactions, products, and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks. We also need more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector,” Gensler said at the Aspen Security Forum.
Crypto experts have longed believed that cryptos including bitcoin would benefit from increased regulatory oversight as it would further legitimize cryptos as an asset class, widening access for institutional investors. Defining what bitcoin would be the first step towards a regulatory framework.
“I'd start with definition, recognition, and then regulation, because if you can't define it, how do you regulate now?,” Brad Yasar, CEO and founder of EQIFI said in a recent interview. “If governments within the existing framework define what bitcoin is to them, it would 100% change a lot of minds on the institutional side on the retail side.”
Increased regulation could also pave the way to a bitcoin ETF, which many see as another key driver of adoption, though the approval timeline remains uncertain.
"It’s think it's been definitely been a hot topic [a US bitcoin ETF],” Cynthia Wu, head of Business Development at Matrixport said in a July interview with Investing.com. "I do feel positive about an approval in the near future, but I just don't know whether it's going to be end of this year or early next year."
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