Overview
- The CFTC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on October 5, 2026 that outlines Regulation CTX to define leveraged and margined retail crypto transactions and Regulation CAM to offer exchanges a voluntary federal registration pathway.
- Regulation CAM would require venues that opt in to report proof-of-reserves and implement anti-manipulation controls while the proposal explicitly leaves plain spot, non-leveraged trading under state money-transmitter rules.
- The ANPRM sets no fixed leverage caps; instead the agency would require CFTC staff to review any leveraged product before it reaches customers, a process that could vary by platform and delay product launches.
- Legal analysts warn the CFTC’s broad reading of the Commodity Exchange Act could be vulnerable in court because the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision reduced judicial deference to agency interpretations.
- Market advisers caution the rulemaking may lack durability if political control changes before 2028, and critics note the agency’s recent drop in enforcement actions and staffing could affect its capacity to police the new regime.