The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted a new regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and crypto asset markets for White House review, signaling that the agency is pressing ahead with its digital asset oversight plans.
A filing with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shows the action, titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets,” was received on Sept. 17 and is currently listed at the “prerule” stage.
That label indicates the measure is still in the early part of the rulemaking process and has not yet been formally proposed.
The filing does not disclose details of the planned regulation. It was submitted days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, legislation intended to establish a federal regulatory framework for crypto markets.
CFTC and SEC continue without new legislation
One day after the Sept. 15 vote, CFTC Chair Michael Selig wrote on X that the agency was “locked in and ready to ship” crypto market rules using its existing statutory authority. SEC Chair Paul Atkins made a similar point, saying the securities regulator would move ahead “with or without legislation.”
Both agencies acted the following day. The CFTC issued a no-action position for providers of passive software, while the SEC announced temporary exemptions for certain platforms facilitating onchain trading of tokenized securities.
CFTC had already discussed using existing authority
Before the Senate vote this week, the CFTC had already been exploring whether it could advance crypto rules without new legislation. Speaking at the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee conference on Aug. 20, Selig said the agency was prepared to use its current authority to establish a crypto asset market regime if the CLARITY Act stalled.
Selig also said he had directed CFTC staff to explore rules that could allow existing registrants and currently unregistered crypto exchanges to become a type of designated contract market called a “crypto asset market.” Under that structure, leveraged or margined crypto trading could be offered under CFTC oversight.
Brian Armstrong says regulators already have the tools
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also said he expected regulators to move after the vote. In a Sept. 15 post on X, he wrote that the SEC and CFTC had “the tools they need to create clear rules under existing authority” and that he expected them to begin working on the issue “in earnest.”
“So clarity is coming to crypto regardless,” Armstrong wrote.