CFTC Submits Crypto Market Structure Proposal for White House Review

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted a proposed framework for regulating crypto transactions and markets to the White House for review, moving forward with rulemaking after Congress failed to advance a major cryptocurrency market structure bill.

The proposal was sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, or OIRA, on Thursday, according to federal records. The filing covers two areas identified as “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions” and “Regulation Crypto Asset Markets.” The CFTC has not publicly released the detailed text of the proposed rules.

The move follows the Senate’s failure this week to advance the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. Senators voted 49-50 on the procedural measure, falling short of the 60 votes required to move the legislation forward. The bill was designed to establish a broader statutory framework defining the roles of the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission in regulating digital assets.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig had previously indicated that the agency could use its existing authority to establish a crypto market structure if congressional legislation stalled. In August, Selig said CFTC staff were examining rules that could create a regulatory framework for crypto asset markets under the agency’s existing powers.

The proposed market rules could potentially establish a regulatory category for crypto trading venues under CFTC supervision. Such venues could face requirements involving market surveillance, manipulation controls, governance and compliance. The framework could also address leveraged or margined crypto trading, although the precise provisions will not be known until the proposal is published.

The transactions proposal could establish standards for certain retail crypto transactions that already fall within the CFTC’s jurisdiction under existing commodity laws. Areas such as customer protection, custody, disclosures and settlement could become part of the agency’s broader framework, but those details remain subject to the formal rulemaking process.

The CFTC’s move comes as the SEC pursues its own crypto regulatory initiatives. The SEC recently introduced a five-year exemption for certain platforms trading tokenized stocks, another step toward integrating blockchain-based assets with traditional financial markets.

OIRA review does not mean the proposed CFTC rules have been approved. It is part of the federal regulatory process that precedes publication and further agency action. The CFTC would still need to proceed through the required rulemaking stages before any new requirements become binding.

The latest move therefore gives the CFTC a way to pursue crypto market regulation without waiting for Congress to enact a comprehensive market structure law, while leaving the final scope and timing of the framework uncertain.