Giancarlo said this during a speech on EU-US regulatory cooperation in the derivatives markets at the Eurofi Financial Forum in Bucharest, Romania.
The Chairman reiterated his authority’s support for international efforts. These efforts are aimed at examining the effectiveness of the G20’s reform agenda for derivatives and ensuring that it promotes, not oppresses, the derivatives markets. He explained that the CFTC wanted to make its own rules and regulations simpler, less cumbersome and more cost-effective for market participants.
In this context, he specifically mentioned the positive approach taken by the CFTC regarding new derivative products for cryptosystems and other emerging technologies. He explained:
“We have not responded to calls to use our legal powers to suppress the development of crypto assets. Instead, we have decided to keep a close eye on the market without introducing new products. Such as Bitcoin futures, for example, which have proven to be extremely valuable in determining the fair value of Bitcoin by market forces.”
In his last statement, Giancarlo referred to an investigation report by the Central Bank of San Francisco in May 2018. The report said that the introduction of Bitcoin futures, which are traded on the two major Chicago exchanges, the CME and the CBOE, had deepened the crypto derivatives market enough to offset one-sided speculative demand and one more balanced correction of overvalued valuations.
CFTC was seeking to embrace innovative solutions for the market
As Cointelegraph reported, Giancarlo had previously stated that the CFTC was seeking to embrace innovative solutions for the market and therefore had also approved bitcoin futures.
He also said that setting up the company’s own fintech innovation center, LabCFTC, was extremely important in keeping up with the technological change and market developments associated with blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Two of the fintech guidelines published by LabCFTC deal with crypto and blockchain. One concerned virtual currencies (as of October 2017) and the second involved smart contracts (from November 2018).
In December 2018, the lab called on the public and industry to comment on the Ethereum Blockchain. These should then be included in the valuation of the CFTC regarding a possible approval of Ethereum futures contracts.
Also published on Medium.