The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is preparing for a regulatory programme after Congress's legislation has been blocked. The President of the Agency, Michael Selig, stated that if the Clarity Act continued to stagnate, the CTC would move forward with the code of encrypted market structure based on existing competencies.
The rules are ready to go.
Sélig made this statement at the first CFTC Innovation Advisory Board meeting. He said that legislation to promote bipartisan support remained the preferred path, but if Congress were to delay the passage of the bill, regulators would establish a framework for their own application to the market for encrypted assets.
The Clarity Act aims to establish a federal-level regulatory system for digital assets and to further delineate the regulatory responsibilities of CFTC and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Selig argued that, if Congress were to land, the relevant rules would not easily be overturned after a change of government in the future.
May cover exchanges and leverage transactions
In the direction disclosed by Selig, the future rules may include both registered and unregistered encrypted trading platforms under the supervision of the CTC and allow them to provide encrypted asset leverage or security transactions under special rules.
This means that the CTC considers not only futures or derivatives boundaries, but also broader spot market structure arrangements. For the United States encryption industry, this will relate to platform compliance, product design and market access.
- Possible inclusion: Registered and unregistered encryption exchanges
- Possible business implications: leverage transactions, deposit transactions
- Regulatory basis: CFTC existing statutory authority
Chain-based financial agreements are also being discussed.
Selig also indicated that staff members had been required to contact the developers of chain financial agreements to study how those agreements could provide services in the United States in a legal manner. The statement indicates that the CTC wishes to incorporate decentralised financial agreements into operational regulatory discussions rather than focus on centralized platforms.
At the same time, he mentioned that the institution would give Congress more time to advance the Clarity Act, but that if the bill continued, the CTC would move quickly to advance the formal rule proposal.
The previous day, United States President Tripp had also called on Congress to adopt a “fair” version of Clarity Act. At a press conference with a number of encryption executives, Trump also mentioned that Séligère was promoting the decentrization of the permanent contract platform Hyperliquid into the United States market.
If the CFTC ultimately chooses to move ahead, this would mean that United States encryption regulation may have a transitional framework of existing regulatory powers before congressional legislation is completed.