The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed interest in collaborating with node contractors which will supply blockchain data for top cryptocurrencies.
The Federal Business Opportunities website states that the SEC is looking for contractors that will offer firsthand blockchain analytical data. In order to qualify, a contractor must provide the information from a node that is hosted by themselves.
Also, the contractor has to supply only accurate, up-to-date information regarding various blockchain metrics. Such metrics would be hashing algorithms and total hash rate, mining rewards and difficulty, transactional volume, total coin supply, and other blockchain parameters.
The US regulator is mostly seeking for information regarding Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. But it also states that it would like the contractor to run nodes for the listed blockchains: Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, Zcash, EOS, NEO, and Ripple.
Finally, the selected contractor would have to give all the blockchain data he obtained for the requested cryptocurrencies upfront. The SEC also requests updates on a daily basis through an API or similar feed. The contractor should have the possibility of supplying data for additional blockchains within a three-month timeframe.
The agency does not explicitly state in the post the reason behind wanting the blockchain data, especially for Bitcoin, which was deemed not a security and not in its jurisdiction. TrustNodes believes that certain operations on the Bitcoin blockchain and Ethereum blockchain might concern the regulators, such as ICOs.
Or, SEC might just be looking to better understand the inner workings of a public blockchain. Based on this knowledge, the agency might be able to develop more appropriate regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies than the existing ones.
There have been many voices in the industry that are against enforcing the existing financial regulations to this new asset sector, as it would stifle innovation and overall development.
Featured Image: American Council for Capital Formation
