CFTC Commissioner: I Like Being an Underdog Versus the SEC

Kristin Johnson, one of the newest commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that while her agency may be smaller than the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), she likes its chances of becoming a primary regulator for the crypto markets.

• “What I would suggest in response to arguments that the CFTC is the underdog in some jurisdictional fight is that I like an underdog,” Johnson said during a panel discussion at Crypto Connection, a conference hosted by the TabbFORUM on Tuesday.
• “Yes, [the] CFTC is smaller” but that’s why “we might be more capable of being responsive,” she said, responding to a question about whether the CFTC or SEC should have greater regulatory authority over the sector.
• Johnson is one of five commissioners on the CFTC, which is chaired by Rostin Behnam.
• U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) recently introduced a wide-reaching crypto legislation bill that many have seen as giving the CFTC greater regulatory oversight than the SEC. But that view has been rejected by Gillibrand.
• Gillibrand, speaking on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” program last week, said the bill is “clarifying the roles” that the SEC and CFTC have in overseeing crypto, and that the lawmakers had worked with SEC staff in creating the legislation.