CTFC Chair Rostin Behnam said that most crypto tokens constitute commodities, while admitting that there is a “turf war” between regulatory bodies when it comes to jurisdiction over the crypto industry.

The lack of regulatory clarity in the digital asset industry was further exacerbated on Wednesday, after the Chairman of the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) admitted that there was an ongoing “turf war” with other market regulators.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam said that under existing laws, many crypto tokens should be classified as commodities.

“It is figuring out how existing, decades-old law, fits into this new technology that seems to be changing and ultimately needs a new way of thinking around policy and legislating,” he said.

“It is figuring out how existing, decades-old law, fits into this new technology that seems to be changing and ultimately needs a new way of thinking around policy and legislating,” says @CFTCbehnam on #crypto. “Under existing law, many of the tokens constitute commodities.” pic.twitter.com/F3JPjWq3wG

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 12, 2023

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has often claimed that all cryptocurrencies, except for Bitcoin, are actually investment contracts that should be considered securities that fall under its regulatory purview.

Earlier this year, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that there were at least ten to twelve thousand tokens that exist today that should be considered securities. Under Gensler’s regime, the SEC has brought a series of enforcement actions against crypto firms alleging that several tokens on offer were actually unregistered securities.

While crypto companies have attempted to argue that a regulatory framework for crypto is necessary to settle these disputes, Gensler and the SEC have often claimed that existing securities laws already govern the space.

Although Behnam said that he and Gensler “get along quite well” and have a shared interest in protecting markets, his view does differ from the SEC Chair on the subject of whether Congress needs to intervene and frame laws around the space.

“Ultimately, I’ve said this for a while, there is a gap in regulation and Congress is going to have to step in and really overcome this feeling of not wanting to legitimize the technology in seeing this as not something thats tenable or sustainable,” said Behnam.

“It’s here, it hasn’t gone away, and we’re seeing it with the prices of some of the bigger coins.”

The only reason why “commodities laws good 4 crypto” is a meme is because right now the CFTC does not have *regulatory* authority over *spot* transactions in non-derivative tokens. But once it gets it, it will of course impose mandatory intermediation there as well.

— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) December 13, 2023