Clearly, cryptocurrencies are causing concern on Capitol Hill and, as a result, within U.S. financial regulatory agencies. Last week, the House Science Committee held a hearing titled “Beyond Bitcoin: Emerging Applications for Blockchain Technology.” The week before, at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on cryptocurrencies, the heads of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, J. Christopher Giancarlo and Jay Clayton, respectively, testified about their regulatory approach in this area. Most of their testimony focused on fraud in the initial coin offering marketplace. The Senate hearing was not about protecting the public: It was about turf. Both agency heads appeared to be using the attention on ICOs and potential — in some cases, actual — fraud to get additional budget resources they can’t otherwise obtain. As policymakers examine the cryptocurrency market, they should consider putting Treasury in charge of supervision. They both missed...
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