CFTC’s Pham says it won’t give ‘easy street’ to anybody, crypto included

Caroline Pham, the acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has emphasized that the agency's stance on crypto regulation will not be lenient, despite the Trump administration's more relaxed attitude toward the industry.

“There is no easy street for anybody, and regulators aren’t easy,” Pham stated at the Coinbase Annual Summit on Thursday, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

“Just because we are pro-innovation and pro-growth does not mean that you’re going to be able to get away with breaking the law.”

“And this is where I’m talking about not twisting the law to criminalize an asset class or a technology, but I’m talking about lying, cheating, and stealing,” she clarified.

Pham expressed satisfaction that the CFTC has been able to shift away from "regulation by enforcement" against crypto, allowing the agency to refocus its efforts on "catching fraudsters and scammers in our markets."

Caroline Pham speaking at the Coinbase Annual Summit. Source: Yahoo Finance

Concerns Over Regulatory Overreach

Pham voiced concerns that the Biden administration "really went beyond what the law says and what the statute says" regarding crypto, suggesting that this approach negatively impacted traditional derivatives and forex markets as well.

“When we start to change the rules for global derivatives markets because we’re trying to be creative and ‘flex it’ to go after what we perceive to be bad or evil — crypto or blockchain — that is really breaking the fabric of our global markets.”

"Uberizing Crypto": Achieving Widespread Adoption

Brian Sozzi, Yahoo Finance executive editor, prompted Pham to elaborate on her previous statement about "uberizing crypto," which refers to transforming an industry through a novel service, similar to how Uber revolutionized the taxi industry.

Pham explained that "uberizing crypto" entails achieving such widespread adoption and integration of digital assets into people's daily lives that banning or criminalizing them becomes politically unfeasible, analogous to how Uber is now too entrenched to be effectively shut down.

“When something becomes so big, so accepted, so part of our lives, you can’t really take it away then. The public, the people, voters, they won’t let you,” Pham commented.

CLARITY Act Advances

Pham's remarks coincided with the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill, passing a House Financial Services Committee vote on Tuesday.

If approved, the bill would provide clarity on which regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the CFTC, would oversee crypto, with the CFTC expected to gain greater authority.

Pham also mentioned her plans to transition "to the private sector" to make way for Brian Quintez, the a16z crypto policy head, who is slated to take the helm pending a Senate vote.