Hearing on Virtual Currencies

This morning the US Senate held a special hearing on Virtual Currencies with the Chairman of the SEC, Jay Clayton, and the Chairman of the CFTC, J. Christopher Giancarlo. Overall, the hearing proved stern yet openminded (though you might interpret it differently). They want to penalize those people (scammers, frauds) trying to screw over the average investor, but also want to let crypto breathe and grow. Over the last 30 years in the U.S., technology has driven a lot of economic growth, and they are acutely aware of this.

"It strikes me that we owe it to this new generation to expect their enthusiasm about virtual currencies with a thoughtful and balanced response, not a dismissive one. And yet we must crack down hard on those who try to abuse their enthusiasm with fraud and manipulation" - CFTC Chairman Giancarlo

Clayton was very clear that ICOs are securities, and will be treated as such. It’s possible that they will go after ICOs that are the worst offenders insofar as those using tactics like false marketing, and use these cases as examples to further their regulatory agenda.

"I want to go back to separating ICOs and cryptocurrencies. ICOs that are securities offerings, we should regulate them like we regulate securities offerings. End of story." - SEC Chairman Jay Clayton

What all of this means so far as investing decisions is that we should be aware of what might be regulated before all else, which in this case is likely to be ICOs.

In the big picture, the exchanges that have the blessing of regulators will allow the big money to come into the market.

I wrote a more extended post on my blog, if you'd like to check it out! --> https://ciphertree.com/market-insights-on-momentum-and-support/