U.S. regulator offers proposal for crypto market oversight

Following the failure of the Clarity Act last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is proposing rulemaking for crypto asset transactions (Regulation CTX) and crypto asset markets (Regulation CAM), the agency said Monday. The CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission have the statutory authority to issue rules and regulations establishing a federal crypto regulatory market structure, CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece.

The rules wouldn't require crypto assets to trade on CFTC-registered platforms. "We don’t have the authority to impose such a requirement without congressional action," Selig wrote. "However, the rules would establish a purpose-fit option for crypto-asset exchanges that wish to operate under a single federal market regulatory scheme."

"The commission’s announcement begins our process of new rulemakings grounded in the CEA’s (Commodity Exchange Act) purpose and President Trump’s directive to propose a federal crypto asset regulatory market structure using the CFTC’s existing statutory authorities," he said in a statement. "Under my leadership, the commission will take every necessary step to establish regulations that are designed to prevent, rather than only prosecute, after the fact, fraudulent schemes such as FTX."