The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), seeking public comments regarding its intent to establish a regulatory framework for spot crypto trading.
According to CFTC Chair Michael Selig, who appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday morning, the CFTC is going to use its statutory authority to put in place “market-based regulation, anti-manipulation, anti-fraud, segregation of customer assets, and segregation of functions between brokers, exchanges, and clearing.”
This comes as the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act in September.
“I am absolutely disappointed in Congress in not getting this [Clarity Act] to the President’s desk. It’s been a priority since day one, and we’ve worked very hard to get here,” Selig said.
Dr Jordan Knecht, head of strategic integrations at Kresus, a blockchain tech company, told DeFi Rate the CFTC’s proposal is a step toward a clearer federal framework, but it still does not represent regulatory finality.
The SEC and CFTC step up
With the CLARITY Act stalled in Congress, both the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC have moved ahead with their own crypto rules.
In August, the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets that would create a clear and “fit-for-purpose” framework for certain investment contracts, including digital assets. On Oct. 1, the agency proposed new rules and amendments to provide a tailored framework for the custody of crypto assets for registered investment advisers and regulated funds.
According to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, the proposal “would provide a clear regulatory framework for the custody of crypto assets, giving investment advisers and funds a compliant pathway where none existed before.”
While the CFTC’s current ANPRM is a request for input rather than a proposed rule, it also signals the agency intends to build rules for spot crypto trading under the authority it already has.
Today, the @CFTC is doing its part to deliver clear rules of the road for crypto asset markets with its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets. Now live on https://t.co/ibFNpmqx04. pic.twitter.com/wYcEbRhqpq
– Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) October 5, 2026
Clear rules, yet limits exist
In its announcement, the CFTC said it wants regulations “designed to prevent, rather than only prosecute after the fact, fraudulent schemes such as FTX.”
Industry voices are welcoming this shift.
Mike Novogratz, an early Bitcoin investor and CEO of Galaxy Digital, a financial services and data center infrastructure firm, called the move a “big step” in keeping the United States as the “crypto capital of the world.”
Hyperliquid thanked the CFTC and Selig for “putting onchain markets on the agenda,” and Chainlink head of policy Taylor Barr complemented the CFTC’s implementation of “clear rules” that recognize and support the potential onchain infrastructure can offer.
According to Kresus’ Knecht, regulatory uncertainty “itself has a cost for everyone involved,” with exchanges and infrastructure providers already spending significant resources navigating overlapping state requirements and federal jurisdictional questions. A clearer national framework could reduce some of that friction, he said, even if it adds compliance requirements.
The risk, Knecht said, is requirements becoming “so expensive or prescriptive that only the largest firms can reasonably comply.”
For retail users, he said, setting expectations up front rather than relying on enforcement after the fact would be “a meaningful change, and frankly something much of the industry has been asking for.”
Congress still has the final say
According to Knecht, regulators can only go so far.
“The CFTC can create a clearer lane for the industry, but Congress ultimately still has to determine how broad that lane should be.”
He expects digital assets to follow a path similar to US securities regulation, which was built across multiple statutes over many years. In his view, regulators can build pieces of the framework now, while Congress rounds out the broader rules and jurisdictional boundaries over time.
The gaps are already visible. Eleanor Terrett noted the ANPRM leaves open how customer assets would be protected in a bankruptcy, and whether those protections would match those in the CLARITY Act.
The CFTC will be receiving comments within 60 days of the ANPRM’s publication. Comments will be posted on Regulations.gov.
