CFTC Commissioner: I Like Being an Underdog Versus the SEC

Kristin Johnson also suggested her agency might be able to be more responsive than the SEC because it's smaller.

Jun 16, 2022 at 9:23 p.m. UTC

Updated Jun 16, 2022 at 9:33 p.m. UTC

CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson and Conrad Bahlke, Counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LL at Crypto Connection 2022 (Amitoj Singh/Coindesk) — CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson and Conrad Bahlke, counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher at Crypto Connection 2022 (Amitoj Singh/CoinDesk)

Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory reporter covering India. He holds BTC and ETH below CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

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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 being an underdog," Johnson said. She spoke 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 crypto 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 bill sponsors had worked with SEC staff in creating the legislation.

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