Davis Polk partner and ESG practice head Joe Hall was quoted in Roll Call on the need for cryptocurrency regulation. Joe noted that Congress failed to establish clear regulatory jurisdiction over cryptocurrency spot markets and trading platforms. “Congress really should have acted before now,” he said. “These assets have been around now for a decade. They briefly reached a $3 trillion market capitalization, and it’s crazy to think that we had that much wealth in a market that is basically not regulated. It just doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Joe also explained, “A comprehensive market regulator, like the SEC or like the CFTC, could pretty quickly put in place a regulatory regime that would prevent trading market blow-ups like this. It’s not going to be able to get rid of Ponzi schemes, rug pulls and garden-variety fraud in the market, but the SEC and the CFTC do a very good job of regulating basic market infrastructure. That’s what was missing here.”

“As FTX burned, lawmakers said to be dithering over regulator,” Roll Call (November 29, 2022)

Copy link to share post