CFTC Drops Crypto Rule Playbook on White House Desk, Waits for "Reply All" 🫡

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted a new regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and markets for White House review, listing the step at the "prerule" stage of the rulemaking process. The filing, titled "Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets," was received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on Sept. 17, according to that office. The designation indicates the action is at an early stage and has not yet been formally proposed, and the filing itself does not disclose details of the planned regulation.

The submission arrives days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, legislation aimed at establishing a federal regulatory framework for crypto markets. A day after the Sept. 15 vote, CFTC Chair Michael Selig posted on X that the agency was "locked in and ready to ship" rules for crypto markets using its existing statutory authority. SEC Chair Paul Atkins similarly said the securities regulator would move ahead "with or without legislation." Both agencies took action the following day: the CFTC issued a no-action position for providers of passive software, while the SEC announced temporary exemptions for certain platforms facilitating onchain trading of tokenized securities.

The CFTC had been exploring the possibility of advancing crypto rules without new legislation even before this week's Senate vote. In remarks at the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee conference on Aug. 20, Selig said the agency was prepared to use its existing authority to establish a crypto asset market regime if the CLARITY Act stalled. He added that he had directed CFTC staff to explore rules that could allow existing registrants and currently unregistered crypto exchanges to become a type of designated contract market called a "crypto asset market," where leveraged or margined crypto trading could be offered under CFTC oversight.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also said he expected regulators to move ahead after the vote. In a Sept. 15 post on X, Armstrong wrote that the SEC and CFTC had "the tools they need to create clear rules under existing authority" and that he expected them to begin working on the issue "in earnest." "So clarity is coming to crypto regardless," Armstrong wrote. As of submission, the White House has not publicly indicated a timeline for reviewing the CFTC's prerule filing.