CFTC Commissioner: There’s Just No Way to Police All Crypto Fraud Cases

• CFTC commissioner acknowledges the challenge of policing widespread crypto fraud.
• Crypto cases account for 20% of the CFTC’s portfolio.
• The commissioner denies a regulatory “turf war” with the SEC.

Christy Goldsmith Romero, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has said it is impossible for the agency to police all instances of fraud due to the vast amount of alleged scams in the crypto space.

Romero acknowledged this challenge in law enforcement at a white-collar crime conference held at the New York City Bar Association on Tuesday. However, she emphasized the agency’s commitment to taking action by actively pursuing several significant cases. In her words:

There’s just a lot of fraud in the space. There’s just no way we can police all the fraud, but we’ve got to do something.

Furthermore, Romero revealed that crypto-related matters constitute approximately 20% of the CFTC’s case portfolio, including recent developments involving two prominent exchanges, Binance and FTX.

In March, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, alleging the operation of a sham compliance program. However, CEO Zhao has refuted the claims, stating that the complaint fails to present a complete picture of the facts.

Additionally, the CFTC’s case against FTX, a now-bankrupt exchange, accuses founder Sam Bankman-Fried of causing the loss of over $8 billion in customer deposits, with Bankman-Fried pleading guilty to the charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Notably, Romero denied the existence of a “turf war” between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding crypto regulation. She acknowledged both agencies are navigating the complexities of regulating a rapidly evolving sector.

Furthermore, the commissioner cautioned crypto companies against assuming that the CFTC would provide a friendlier regulatory environment compared to the SEC.