EU Commissioner: Blockchain Can Offer Regulators Transparency

The debate over blockchain, distributed ledger technology and their usefulness may be ongoing, but one regulator has sanguine views about the potential.

In remarks made at the Cato Institute on Tuesday (April 12), J. Christopher Giancarlo, commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said that the technology (i.e., distributed ledgers) has shown usefulness through participation in the credit default swaps markets. The trial had input and participation from a number of financial heavy hitters, including the likes of Citigroup and Credit Suisse.

Giancarlo stated that distributed ledger technology could have been useful in the financial crisis of 2008 and the ripples that ensued. One key selling point for the ledger technology, said Giancarlo, is that it can help users “manage the capital complexity brought about by the disparate mandates promulgated by regulators here and abroad.”

Giancarlo said that any discussion among regulators should seek some parameters for standardized information and processes. But, he added, in other countries, there is a dedicated effort to boost financial services. There’s also room for improvement here in the United States through cooperation. Rules that may strike some as hurdles must be considered.