Turf War Between CFTC and SEC Goes Viral

The turf war between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over who should regulate crypto has a new casualty – Kim Kardashian. That’s according to Fox Business News’ Eleanor Terret, who said on Twitter the SEC’s much publicized $1.2 million fine levied on the celebrity was a publicity stunt.

Terret said the goal of the move is to give the SEC the primary position to regulate cryptocurrency, rather than the CFTC.

A former SEC lawyer tells me @KimKardashian was an easy target for @GaryGensler to generate publicity that the @SECGov is protecting investors from illicit #crypto schemes. His goal, in part, is to prove the SEC should have at least equal jurisdiction with the @CFTC on regulating crypto as Congress looks to determine who should be the principal regulator.

Whether the SEC or CFTC should have jurisdiction over crypto has become a sticking point, with legislators and a number of voices in the industry saying the CFTC is the preferable agency to handle the task. Given the SEC’s unilateral ruling that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin and Ethereum are securities, it’s easy to see why.