CFTC’s Crypto Regulatory Authority Challenged at Oral Argument

Including all cryptocurrencies under the definition of “commodity” could make the Commodity Futures Trading Commission “a sort of freelance sheriff” with anti-fraud authority over nearly anything, an attorney representing a discredited crypto hedge fund operator told federal appellate judges Thursday.

The statutory language giving the agency jurisdiction over interests involving “contracts for future delivery” is “not a catch-all, it’s a catch-some,” Jason Gottlieb of Morrison Cohen told a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The appeal doesn’t challenge the district court’s finding that Sam Ikkurty made various misrepresentations about crypto hedge funds run by his ...