The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public comment on a comprehensive federal framework for crypto asset transactions.
The proposal introduces two linked regulatory concepts: Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions, or Regulation CTX, and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, or Regulation CAM. Under Regulation CAM, crypto exchanges could register as a new type of federally regulated "crypto asset market," a tailored version of the designated contract market status used by futures exchanges.
The framework relies on a 2010 Dodd-Frank provision that requires retail commodity trades offered with leverage, margin, or financing to occur on a CFTC-registered exchange. According to the CFTC's preliminary reading, merely offering leverage—even through routine onboarding documents or terms of service—could bring fully paid trades under federal oversight if purchased crypto remains on an exchange's internal books rather than in the customer's own wallet. To escape federal oversight, trades would need to satisfy an "actual delivery" standard, which could require customers to hold their own private keys. On-chain protocols that send tokens directly to user wallets would typically clear that bar.
CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said: "Today's action is a critical step in the CFTC's ongoing efforts to ensure America remains the crypto capital of the world. The American people deserve clarity, certainty, and consumer protections in the crypto asset markets and the agency is committed to delivering this by incorporating crypto asset transactions into its uniform national market regulatory framework." Selig added that the rules are "designed to prevent, rather than only prosecute after the fact, fraudulent schemes such as FTX."
The ANPRM also seeks input on preventing abusive practices, providing crypto-specific compliance guidance, and codifying a subcategory of designated contract market registration purpose-built for crypto asset transactions. The CFTC is weighing proof-of-reserves requirements and listing standards against tokens prone to manipulation. Exchanges that do not offer leverage could continue operating under state money transmitter licenses.
The notice repudiates the agency's Biden-era approach, describing past cases against Kraken, Ooki DAO, and Uniswap as "regulation by enforcement." The CFTC sent the framework to the White House for review in September, days after the Clarity Act failed in the Senate. The public has 60 days to comment once the notice is published in the Federal Register. The SEC is moving on a parallel track, having proposed Regulation Crypto Assets in August and an innovation exemption for tokenized stocks last month.
