On January 18, CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero spoke before the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School on lessons learned from the recent bankruptcy of a cryptocurrency exchange, calling the collapse a “violation of trust.” Specifically, Goldsmith Romero mentioned that the digitization of financial services and products brought convenience but also a presumed trust in crypto exchanges with name recognition, which was violated by the collapse. She pointed to the collapsed exchange’s reliance on the name recognition it made through marketing campaigns and explained that such advertising “played up the exchange’s safety and convenience for people that may be new to crypto.”

Goldsmith Romero urged Congress to avoid permitting newly-regulated crypto exchanges to self-certify products for listing under the current process that limits CFTC oversight. She stressed it “is critical to institute guardrails against regulatory arbitrage," including prohibiting self-certification.

Goldsmith Romero also called on lawyers, accountants, compliance professionals, and other gatekeepers to “step up and call for compliance, controls, and other governance.” She expressed that these gatekeepers failed their “essential duties” to protect crypto customers and market integrity, and noted that they have allowed “the promise of riches and the company’s marketing pitch to silence their objections to obvious deficiencies.” Ultimately, Goldsmith Romero advised that “[s]ound custody practices and strong cybersecurity are necessary to restore trust and protect customers.”