According to Cointelegraph, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said at the U.S. Fiscal Markets Conference on September 26 that the SEC will continue to advance changes to the definitions of “exchanges” and alternative trading systems.
Gensler discussed issues affecting the efficiency and resiliency of the U.S. Treasury market, but the proposal was widely criticized in the digital asset space.
One of the steps the SEC took was to change the definition of “dealer” to clarify the role of market participants. The change was proposed in 2022 and adopted in February.
Another issue is the definition of “exchange” and alternative trading systems. The 2022 proposal would require registration of platforms that are market makers in government securities markets and could affect other types of trading platforms.
The proposal was resurrected a year later and a section specifically for decentralized finance (DeFi) was added. Gensler said the update would close regulatory gaps between platforms. The changes have not yet been finalized.
Notably, Prometheum and tZero are registered alternative trading systems and the only companies to have received special purpose broker-dealer status for digital asset securities.
Gensler did not mention cryptocurrencies or DeFi in his speech. He spoke about crypto regulation on CNBC that day and claimed that existing laws are sufficient to regulate the crypto industry.