A U.S. regulator is defending its approach to policing cryptocurrencies after some derivatives brokerages complained that two of the world’s biggest exchanges rushed bitcoin futures to market last month without properly evaluating the risks.
In a four-page document released Thursday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission argued there was little it could do to prevent CME Group Inc. and Cboe Global Markets Inc. from launching futures contracts. The exchanges took advantage of a process known as self-certification that allows them to list products after pledging to regulators that trading doesn’t run afoul of the law.
