Bloomberg: Inadequate US regulation will jeopardize the future of the crypto industry

PANews reported on January 20th that, according to a commentary from the Bloomberg editorial board, the future of the US crypto industry is at risk of being "sabotaged" due to weak and under-resourced regulatory bodies. While Congress has passed the Genius Act and attempted to establish a legal framework for digital assets through the Clarity Act, the enforcement capabilities of regulators are worrying. The risks in the stablecoin market are highly concentrated, with Tether and Circle holding over 80% of the market share; their redemption crises could impact financial stability, while regulatory responsibility is fragmented. Key regulators include the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which lost approximately a quarter of its staff by 2025 and is still dealing with the impact of cyberattacks; the CFTC's budget is only one-sixth of the SEC's and it is understaffed; and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the only entity tracking crypto consumer complaints, has been substantially weakened.

Commentators argue that "symbolic regulation" by inadequate institutions could lead to more investors suffering losses in an environment rife with fraud, ultimately proving counterproductive. The article calls for a new legal framework for trading difficult-to-classify digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, with the SEC and CFTC jointly developing rules to ensure market participants meet basic requirements regarding safety, robustness, consumer protection, and information disclosure.