In a statement shared on December 11th, via the official website of SEC, chairman Jay Clayton shared his thoughts on the future developments of distributed ledger tech and the cryptocurrencies as a whole. The statement was part of testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The testimony enveloped several aspects of the SEC’s agenda, including a new strategy for the upcoming year as well as short-term goals.
As part of the resolutions for 2019, the chairman said that SEC would be focusing its attention on ICOs, DLT, and crypto-assets. Expanding the internal coordination efforts, the Commission has created the strategic FinHub, which will provide guidance for new businesses or anyone who wants to implement the innovative technologies in compliance with the laws. Furthermore, Bill Hinman, Corporation Finance Director of SEC, will provide additional assistance in the evaluation of crypto assets. Hinman and a specially appointed Associate Director will review the coins and decide if they can be deemed a security under federal law.
Clayton marked the ICOs as effective and innovative appliances of the technology, but ones that still need to be adequately regulated to comply with the law. They also form part of a new sector in which the Commission is very interested and intends to foster it, promoting innovation through a “balanced regulatory approach”.
In Clayton’s words, the DLT can “help facilitate capital formation” and it offers investment opportunities for different kinds of businesses – retail and institutional alike.
Mr. Clayton`s statement was concluded by the denouncement of hacker attacks and fraud attempts, especially those that are aimed at new to the crypto industry individuals. According to him, law violations further derogate the reputation of the crypto community and blockchain technologies.