State Hurdles Ahead on Path to More Federal Crypto Regulation

Federal financial regulators signaled Feb. 6 they want expanded authority to oversee cryptocurrency markets, which could come at the expense of state authorities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are looking to close what they view as regulatory gaps in the cryptocurrency space in matters of consumer protection and transparency which they don’t have direct authority over, Chairmen Jay Clayton of the SEC and J. Christopher Giancarlo of the CFTC told the Senate Banking Committee.

One potential solution is a federal regime for licensing money transmission. Most cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the US are licensed as ...