With the fall of the FTX exchange, all attention is shifting to the issue of regulation of the cryptocurrency sector, and the fight against such platforms will be on the agenda in 2023, according to the new head of the global securities watchdog IOSCO.

Jean-Paul Servais said regulation of cryptocurrency platforms could build on principles already in place in other sectors regarding conflicts of interest, such as rating agencies, without having to start from scratch.

Cryptocurrencies like BTC have been around for years, but regulators have been against imposing new rules.

It wasn’t until the FTX crash, which resulted in billions of dollars in losses from about 1 million creditors, that the break in awareness came to regulators, Servais said.

According to him, today there are different opinions about whether cryptocurrencies are a real problem at the international level, because not everyone believes that this is a significant risk yet.

“Things are changing, and because of the interconnectedness between different activities, I think it’s important now that we can start a discussion.”

IOSCO, which coordinates regulations for the G20 and other countries, has developed guidelines for regulating stablecoins, and will now turn its attention to the platforms that trade them.

Unlike ordinary finance, where there is a separation between such activities as brokerage, trading, banking and issuing, and each of them has its own set of rules and guarantees, this is not the case with cryptocurrencies.

Therefore, it is not surprising that cryptocurrency “conglomerates”, such as FTX, have appeared, which perform many functions: brokerage services, securities storage, own trading, token issuance, which leads to a conflict of interest.

“In order to protect investors, more clarity is needed on the operation of these crypto platforms through targeted guidance on applying the IOSCO principles to crypto assets,” Servais said.

Madrid-based IOSCO, or the International Organization of Securities Commissions, is the umbrella body for market watchdogs such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bafin in Germany, the Japan Financial Services Agency and the UK Financial Conduct Authority who undertake to apply the recommendations of this body.

The new EU Framework for Crypto Asset Markets, or MiCA, is the starting point for the development of global guidance as it focuses on the oversight of crypto operators.