Overview
- Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham says leveraged spot crypto products could begin trading on U.S. designated contract markets before year’s end, relying on existing Commodity Exchange Act authority.
- The CFTC has held technical talks with regulated venues including CME Group, Coinbase Derivatives, Cboe and ICE to design a pilot for margin and financing in spot Bitcoin and Ether trading.
- The Senate Agriculture Committee released a bipartisan discussion draft assigning the CFTC explicit spot-market authority for most digital commodities and requiring exchange, broker and dealer registration.
- Consumer safeguards in the draft include customer fund segregation, conflict-of-interest controls, disclosures, dispute resolution, qualified custodians, and explicit protections for self-custody and certain software developers.
- Key gaps and hurdles remain, including unresolved DeFi and AML provisions, CFTC staffing and funding needs, pending confirmation of chair-nominee Mike Selig, and the need for committee markups and bipartisan votes to clear the Senate.