CFTC Vows Crypto Rules With or Without Congress

The top US regulator for financial markets has a message for the crypto industry: start getting ready for oversight, because it is on the way.

Selig made the comments on Bloomberg Television before the CFTC's first Innovation Advisory Committee meeting.

Lawmakers Get a Deadline

The CFTC is monitoring the progress of the Clarity Act, a bill stuck in the Senate that would make the agency the main regulator for the digital-asset industry. A procedural vote is scheduled for mid-September, but unresolved issues may block passage before the November midterms. The delay is partly tied to an ethics dispute involving President Donald Trump's $1.4 billion cryptocurrency windfall.

Selig called legislation "the most surefire way to lock in crypto market structure" and the surest path to durable rules. But he made it clear the agency will not wait forever.

"If we have to utilize that authority to create rules without the supporting legislation, we'll do it," Selig said.

The CFTC has authority under existing law, he argued, so it can act on its own if Congress keeps stalling. That gives the industry a clear picture: the rules are coming either way.

A New Kind of Trading Venue

Later that same day, Selig said the CFTC is exploring a new regulated venue called a crypto asset market. This would allow for leveraged or margin trading, which could bring offshore platforms that currently avoid US registration into the country legally.