美国监管者呼吁填补加密货币“监管真空”

The US Treasury needs to intensify efforts to fill the “regulatory vacuum” for the cryptocurrency industry, according to a top US regulator.

美国一位高级监管者表示，美国财政部需要加大力度填补加密货币行业的“监管真空”。

The explosion in cryptocurrencies — the total value of bitcoin and other digital currencies stands at more than $354bn despite a fall in recent months — has attracted the interest of regulators, who have had to balance the desire not to stymie the new technology while weeding out fraudulent ventures.

加密货币的爆炸式增长——尽管近几个月有所下降，但比特币和其他数字货币的总价值已超过3540亿美元——已经吸引了监管机构的兴趣，它们必须在不扼杀新技术与清除欺诈风险之间取得平衡。

The US Treasury needs to intensify efforts to fill the “regulatory vacuum” for the cryptocurrency industry, according to a top US regulator.

美国一位高级监管者表示，美国财政部需要加大力度填补加密货币行业的“监管真空”。

The explosion in cryptocurrencies — the total value of bitcoin and other digital currencies stands at more than $354bn despite a fall in recent months — has attracted the interest of regulators, who have had to balance the desire not to stymie the new technology while weeding out fraudulent ventures.

加密货币的爆炸式增长——尽管近几个月有所下降，但比特币和其他数字货币的总价值已超过3540亿美元——已经吸引了监管机构的兴趣，它们必须在不扼杀新技术与清除欺诈风险之间取得平衡。

Steven Mnuchin, Treasury secretary, said in January that the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which was set up after the 2008 financial crisis to identify threats to the US economy, had formed a working group to look at cryptocurrencies.

美国财政部长史蒂文•姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin) 1月份表示，金融稳定监督委员会(Financial Stability Oversight Council)已成立了一个工作组来研究加密货币。金融稳定监督委员会成立于2008年金融危机后，负责识别美国经济面临的威胁。

However, Rostin Behnam, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said much more needed to be done, emphasising the need to go beyond the currencies themselves and focus on issues related to the underlying “distributed ledgers” and initial coin offerings.

但美国商品期货交易委员会(CFTC)委员罗斯坦•贝南(Rostin Behnam)表示，需要采取多得多的行动，他强调，目光需要超越加密货币本身，关注同根本的“分布式账本”和首次代币发行(ICO)有关的问题。

“I think they really need to step in, gather all the regulators, take in ideas, talk to stakeholders and then if legislation is needed, propose that to Congress,” he told the FT. “There is a regulatory vacuum right now in this space.”

他对英国《金融时报》表示：“我认为它们真的需要介入，聚集所有监管者，征集意见，与利益相关方谈话。如果需要立法，就向国会提出来。现在这个领域处于监管真空。”

Mr Behnam, the sole Democratic commissioner at the CFTC, also spoke against fellow commissioner Brian Quintenz, who this week reiterated his support for “self-regulatory organisations” to oversee the emerging cryptocurrency industry.

贝南是美国商品期货交易委员会唯一的民主党委员，他还表态反对另一位委员布赖恩•昆滕斯(Brian Quintenz)的言论。昆滕斯在本周重申，他支持由“自律组织”来监督新兴的加密货币行业。

Mr Quintenz applauded recent proposals from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to set up a self-regulatory organisation for cryptocurrencies called the Virtual Commodity Association, funded by membership fees.

昆滕斯赞扬了泰勒•文克莱沃斯(Tyler Winklevoss)和卡梅伦•文克莱沃斯(Cameron Winklevoss)兄弟最近提出的建议，即设立一个名为“虚拟商品协会”(Virtual Commodity Association)的加密货币自律组织(SRO)，资金由会员费提供。

“Ultimately, a virtual commodity SRO that has the most independence from its membership, the most diversity of views, and the strongest ability to discover, reveal and punish wrongdoing, will add the most integrity to these markets,” Mr Quintenz said.

昆滕斯说：“最终而言，最独立于其会员、拥有最多样性的观点，以及最强大发现、揭露和惩罚不当行为能力的一个虚拟商品自律组织，将为这些市场增添最大的诚信。”

SROs are widely used in US financial markets, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and National Futures Association. However, Mr Behnam argued that setting up an cryptocurrency SRO would be unsuitable for such an embryonic industry.

自律组织在美国金融市场上运用广泛，例如美国金融业监管局(Financial Industry Regulatory Authority)和美国全国期货协会(National Futures Association)。不过贝南认为，建立一个加密货币自律组织不适合这样一个处于萌芽阶段的产业。

“We need ideas, but I am a little sceptical of an SRO model given the nascent stage of the industry . . .  SRO models, whether its Finra or NFA, were born as products of congressional mandates,” Mr Behnam said. “I am not suggesting Congress has to act or is going to act anytime soon, but I do think there needs to be movement together.”

贝南说：“我们需要想法，但鉴于该行业处于初始阶段，我对自律组织模式有点怀疑……自律组织模式，无论是金融业监管局还是全国期货协会，都是在国会授权下诞生的。我不是暗示国会必须尽快采取行动或打算很快采取行动，但我确实认为需要共同行动。”

Also weighing in on the need for better regulation, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, argued this week that “we should take a step back and understand the peril that comes along with the promise”.

 

国际货币基金组织(IMF)总裁克里斯蒂娜•拉加德(Christine Lagarde)也认为需要加强监管，她本周表示“我们应该退后一步，了解光明前景承诺所伴随的危险”。

Steven Mnuchin, Treasury secretary, said in January that the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which was set up after the 2008 financial crisis to identify threats to the US economy, had formed a working group to look at cryptocurrencies.

美国财政部长史蒂文•姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin) 1月份表示，金融稳定监督委员会(Financial Stability Oversight Council)已成立了一个工作组来研究加密货币。金融稳定监督委员会成立于2008年金融危机后，负责识别美国经济面临的威胁。

However, Rostin Behnam, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said much more needed to be done, emphasising the need to go beyond the currencies themselves and focus on issues related to the underlying “distributed ledgers” and initial coin offerings.

但美国商品期货交易委员会(CFTC)委员罗斯坦•贝南(Rostin Behnam)表示，需要采取多得多的行动，他强调，目光需要超越加密货币本身，关注同根本的“分布式账本”和首次代币发行(ICO)有关的问题。

“I think they really need to step in, gather all the regulators, take in ideas, talk to stakeholders and then if legislation is needed, propose that to Congress,” he told the FT. “There is a regulatory vacuum right now in this space.”

他对英国《金融时报》表示：“我认为它们真的需要介入，聚集所有监管者，征集意见，与利益相关方谈话。如果需要立法，就向国会提出来。现在这个领域处于监管真空。”

Mr Behnam, the sole Democratic commissioner at the CFTC, also spoke against fellow commissioner Brian Quintenz, who this week reiterated his support for “self-regulatory organisations” to oversee the emerging cryptocurrency industry.

贝南是美国商品期货交易委员会唯一的民主党委员，他还表态反对另一位委员布赖恩•昆滕斯(Brian Quintenz)的言论。昆滕斯在本周重申，他支持由“自律组织”来监督新兴的加密货币行业。

Mr Quintenz applauded recent proposals from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss to set up a self-regulatory organisation for cryptocurrencies called the Virtual Commodity Association, funded by membership fees.

昆滕斯赞扬了泰勒•文克莱沃斯(Tyler Winklevoss)和卡梅伦•文克莱沃斯(Cameron Winklevoss)兄弟最近提出的建议，即设立一个名为“虚拟商品协会”(Virtual Commodity Association)的加密货币自律组织(SRO)，资金由会员费提供。

“Ultimately, a virtual commodity SRO that has the most independence from its membership, the most diversity of views, and the strongest ability to discover, reveal and punish wrongdoing, will add the most integrity to these markets,” Mr Quintenz said.

昆滕斯说：“最终而言，最独立于其会员、拥有最多样性的观点，以及最强大发现、揭露和惩罚不当行为能力的一个虚拟商品自律组织，将为这些市场增添最大的诚信。”

SROs are widely used in US financial markets, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and National Futures Association. However, Mr Behnam argued that setting up an cryptocurrency SRO would be unsuitable for such an embryonic industry.

自律组织在美国金融市场上运用广泛，例如美国金融业监管局(Financial Industry Regulatory Authority)和美国全国期货协会(National Futures Association)。不过贝南认为，建立一个加密货币自律组织不适合这样一个处于萌芽阶段的产业。

“We need ideas, but I am a little sceptical of an SRO model given the nascent stage of the industry . . .  SRO models, whether its Finra or NFA, were born as products of congressional mandates,” Mr Behnam said. “I am not suggesting Congress has to act or is going to act anytime soon, but I do think there needs to be movement together.”

贝南说：“我们需要想法，但鉴于该行业处于初始阶段，我对自律组织模式有点怀疑……自律组织模式，无论是金融业监管局还是全国期货协会，都是在国会授权下诞生的。我不是暗示国会必须尽快采取行动或打算很快采取行动，但我确实认为需要共同行动。”

Also weighing in on the need for better regulation, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, argued this week that “we should take a step back and understand the peril that comes along with the promise”.

国际货币基金组织(IMF)总裁克里斯蒂娜•拉加德(Christine Lagarde)也认为需要加强监管，她本周表示“我们应该退后一步，了解光明前景承诺所伴随的危险”。