CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham Visits Ripple’s San Francisco Office

The commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) came to Ripple’s office in San Francisco to get acquainted with the activities of the company.

Caroline Pham visited Ripple Labs as part of a “study tour”. The commissioner spoke to company executives, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The CFTC visit came just days after Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a petition in federal court for summary judgment.

Ripple insists that its XRP digital coins are not securities, and the profit of XRP holders depends solely on supply and demand in the market. While the SEC continues to state that according to the Howey test, XRP should be considered investment contracts. Garlinghouse recently accused SEC Chairman Gary Gensler of unacceptable attempts to expand the agency’s powers far beyond the limits set by the US Congress.

Pham’s visit to Ripple’s offices demonstrated the disagreement between the SEC and the CFTC regarding digital assets. Both departments believe that they should become the main regulator of the industry, but they define crypto assets in different ways. The SEC refers to most cryptocurrencies as securities, with the exception of bitcoin, while the CFTC considers them to be commodities. In July fam
criticized SEC for “forced regulation of the industry.” Pham fears that the SEC’s approach to crypto assets could have far-reaching consequences, so both regulators should act openly and join forces to bring clarity to the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam is counting on the support of the US Senate Agriculture Committee. This week, Banham asked the committee to expand the authority of the agency in relation to the digital asset market.