White House receives CFTC's cryptocurrency regulation proposal for review
The CFTC is advancing toward new cryptocurrency market regulations leveraging its current regulatory powers, with the proposed action now undergoing White House evaluation.
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission has forwarded a new regulatory framework addressing cryptocurrency asset transactions and markets to the White House for evaluation, signaling the agency's continued progress in its strategy to regulate the digital asset industry.
Based on documentation filed with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the regulatory action, named "Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets," arrived on Sept. 17 and is currently classified at the "prerule" stage. This classification suggests the regulatory action remains in the preliminary phase of the rulemaking procedure and has yet to be officially proposed.
While the filing omits specific details regarding the proposed regulation, its submission follows just days after the Senate's unsuccessful attempt to move forward with the CLARITY Act, proposed legislation designed to create a federal regulatory structure for cryptocurrency markets.
One day following the Sept. 15 vote, CFTC Chair Michael Selig published a statement on X declaring that the agency was "locked in and ready to ship" rules for crypto markets using its existing statutory authority, while SEC Chair Paul Atkins offered similar commentary, stating the securities regulator would proceed "with or without legislation."
The two agencies took concrete steps the next day. The CFTC released a no-action position for providers of passive software, while the SEC unveiled temporary exemptions for certain platforms facilitating onchain trading of tokenized securities.
CFTC and SEC move ahead without new legislation
The CFTC had been considering the option of progressing with cryptocurrency regulations without new legislation prior to this week's Senate vote. During his address at the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee conference on Aug. 20, Selig indicated that the agency stood ready to utilize its current authority to create a crypto asset market regime should the CLARITY Act encounter obstacles.
Selig went on to explain that he had instructed CFTC staff to examine rules that would enable existing registrants and presently unregistered crypto exchanges to transition into a category of designated contract market known as a "crypto asset market," where leveraged or margined crypto trading could be provided under CFTC supervision.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong similarly expressed his expectation that regulators would proceed following the vote. In his Sept. 15 post on X, he stated that the SEC and CFTC had "the tools they need to create clear rules under existing authority" and that he anticipated them to commence working on the matter "in earnest."
So clarity is coming to crypto regardless
Brian Armstrong
