CFTC proposes registration rules for leveraged crypto exchanges

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would establish a federal registration requirement for crypto exchanges offering leveraged, margined, or financed trading to retail customers.

The proposal would create a new registration category — called a crypto asset market — for platforms offering such trades. Platforms seeking to offer crypto perpetuals or prediction markets would have the option of registering instead as conventional designated contract markets, which is the CFTC's standard category for derivatives exchanges, according to Bloomberg. Platforms offering basic spot crypto transactions would not be required to register with the agency and could instead fall under state oversight, according to The Hill.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said in a statement: "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, speaking Monday at Fordham Law School, described the measure as a "federal option for crypto asset exchanges" rather than a universal mandate, according to The Hill. "Only Congress has the authority to mandate that all crypto asset exchanges register with the Commission," he said.