Overview
- The CFTC published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Oct. 5 that outlines two linked initiatives, Regulation CTX for transactions and Regulation CAM for a tailored exchange registration, and opened a 60-day comment period.
- The rulemaking targets retail crypto trades that use leverage, margin, or financing and would bring those transactions under CFTC oversight while leaving ordinary fully paid spot trading largely outside the new federal scheme.
- Proposed safeguards include a new 'crypto asset market' (CAM) registration, requiring futures commission merchants to intermediate customer trades, proof-of-reserves checks for pooled accounts, and rules to limit listing products vulnerable to manipulation.
- The agency is proceeding under existing Commodity Exchange Act authority cited in Dodd‑Frank retail-trading provisions after Congress failed to advance the CLARITY Act, but any final rules could face legal challenge or be reshaped by future legislation.
- The 60-day consultation is the next formal step and could prompt exchanges to choose a single federal route instead of state-by-state licenses, with practical effects for customer protections, platform operations, and who supervises leveraged crypto offerings.