CFTC Commissioner Says Whistleblowers ‘Critical’ to Oversight of Crypto

Whistleblowers who report wrongdoing in the cryptocurrency industry will be performing a valuable service and will be eligible to receive a substantial reward, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner reportedly said.

CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson told Bloomberg in an interview that tips are needed to enable enforcement because the crypto world can in some cases be opaque, the news outlet reported Friday (Nov. 18).

“In the context of the digital-asset space, the value of having those vocal whistleblowers and tipsters is critical,” Johnson said, per the report.

Informants would get anonymity and the rewards they receive can be 10% to 30% of the amount the agency collects in penalties, according to the report.

Johnson also said lawmakers should enable the CFTC to cover the spot market as well as cases in which platforms outside the United States may affect U.S. customers or markets.

“It is ever more critical that we are vigilantly closing those regulatory gaps, tightening and weaving together the spaces where actors might act in the shadows,” Johnson said in the interview.

The CFTC did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

Similarly, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero has said that regulation by the agency may be the answer for dealing with the risk associated with crypto as more traditional financial institutions (FIs) show an interest in crypto.

With traditional FIs showing greater interest in crypto, interconnections between the two industries will increase risk, Goldsmith Romero said Oct. 26 while speaking at a conference, CoinDesk reported at the time.

She added that the United States shouldn’t rush regulation and that any rules should treat the crypto industry the same as the traditional financial industry, according to the report.

“Congress can address financial stability risks by providing additional authority to the CFTC,” Goldsmith Romero said in the report.

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