CFTC’s Goldsmith Romero says commissioner exodus ‘not a great situation’

Outgoing US Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero says the exodus of the agencys top brass is not a great situation for crypto regulations.The CFTC could be headed by just one commissioner once the other four depart later this year, which Goldsmith Romero said in a May 27 interview at the Brookings Institution will make creating regulations harder because it leaves a less diverse pool of opinions.I think its not a great situation if you have one person whos determining what the rules should be; you lose the benefit of this back-and-forth, this push-and-pull as to whats the right thing to do, she said.Ive always wanted to hear from my fellow commissioners about what makes sense to them, and there are many things that theyve convinced me of and many things that Ive convinced them of, so I think it does a disservice to regulation.Christy Goldsmith Romero said that four CFTC commissioners departing is not ideal because it leaves a less diverse pool of opinions.Source: YouTubeGoldsmith Romeros last day will be May 31, leaving Commissioner Kristin Johnson as the CFTCs sole Democrat, who has also announced plans to depart the agency before 2026.Republican Commissioner Summer Mersinger is also leaving on May 30 to join the crypto advocacy organization the Blockchain Association as CEO and Republican acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said on May 15 that she plans to move to the private sector if Brian Quintenz were to be confirmed head of the agency.If Quintenz is confirmed, and Pham follows through on leaving, it would leave him solely in charge of the agency. Five commissioners are supposed to make up the CFTC, and no more than three can be from the same political party.Goldsmith Romero said that during her tenure, all the commissioners had different perspectives and experiences that, when brought together, were really helpful.So what happens if the CFTC gets down to one and gets new authority for crypto? Its going to be really, really hard; youre not going to have the same push and pull, she said.The Trump administration has floated the idea of handing the reins of crypto regulation to the CFTC in the past. Congressional Republicans have also been drafting bills to give the CFTC greater oversight over the industry,Retail customer Definition should be CFTC priorityIn the future, Goldsmith Romero thinks the CFTC should work on defining a retail customer to ensure the influx of fresh investments in crypto and some other products has a similar retail customer protection regime to the Securities and Exchange Commission.Related: Crypto perp futures coming very soon, says CFTCs MersingerI came from the SEC with an investor protection regime, you want people to know their rights and risk if they take a risk and they lose thats on them, she said.But you want to have some basic things like exchanges that are registered that have some basic requirements and have to follow the law and this is, I think, the main thing that needs to happen.Goldsmith Romero said other extremely basic rules could include a ban against co-mingling a companys assets with customer funds, and brokers, exchanges and clearing houses being required to register with the SEC, the CFTC or in some cases, both.Magazine: Bitcoin bears eye $69K, CZ denies WLF fixer rumors: Hodlers Digest, May 18 24