Winklevoss brothers for the self-regulation in cryptocurrency business

The famous twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who in December 2017 became the world's first confirmed by cryptocurrency billionaires (according to the value of their cryptocurrency assets at that time), intend to create a self-regulating organization of the Virtual Commodity Association for monitoring crypto-exchanges and platforms in the US. The organization will monitor the crypto-currency business, as well as develop industry standards and increase transparency in working with regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and will prevent fraud.

"Such an organization with a well thought out structure of self-regulation will provide a program of regulation for the entire virtual goods industry and will be the next step in the maturation and formation of the emerging market," Winklevoss said.

Financial regulators, including CFTC and SEC, rely heavily on self-regulating organizations (SROs). The most striking example is the financial services industry regulation service (FINRA), which was established in 1939 by the Congress decision and is the leading regulator for Wall Street brokers.

To date, none of the US regulators has the authority to directly control crypto-exchanges. Legal regulation of this area is carried out on the basis of existing laws that do not have special articles for cryptocurrencies.

In a recent statement, CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz called on crypto-exchanges to fill this gap and create a private regulator or CPO. Among other things, he noted that the plan of the Winklevoss brothers meets all the criteria.

The Virtual Commodity Association will be created at the expense of participants and open to trading platforms serving American investors. All members of this organization will be required to comply with a number of rules in the field of cybersecurity and the dissemination of information for violations of which will be sanctioned.