CFTC chair says agency will move forward on crypto regulation if CLARITY fails
The CFTC chair has directed staff to develop crypto policies including developer protections, signaling the agency will act independently if Congress doesn't pass the CLARITY bill.
Michael Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told the agency's Innovation Advisory Committee that he has ordered CFTC staff to prepare crypto regulations. These would cover developer protections and other policies the agency oversees. The move signals the CFTC is preparing to act on its own if Congress fails to pass the CLARITY Act, a proposed law meant to clarify which federal agencies regulate which parts of crypto.
The CFTC is one of two main financial regulators in the United States. It oversees futures markets, derivatives, and commodity trading. The SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, oversees stocks and investments. Crypto assets fall into a murky middle ground between them. The CLARITY Act would draw clearer lines: the CFTC would regulate most crypto assets as commodities, while the SEC would oversee crypto projects that look like securities offerings. Without that clarity, both agencies have moved cautiously, and regulation has remained fragmented.
Selig's statement suggests the CFTC won't wait indefinitely for Congress to act. If the CLARITY Act stalls or fails, the agency will move forward with its own rules on its own timeline. Developer protections were mentioned specifically, meaning rules around how the agency treats people who build crypto software and protocols. The CFTC already has authority over crypto derivatives and spot markets for some assets, so new rules from the agency would expand what it regulates.
For crypto projects and developers, clearer CFTC rules could cut both ways. Clear rules would reduce legal uncertainty. They might also impose compliance costs and reporting requirements that smaller projects struggle to meet. The timing and scope of any rules Selig's staff develops remain unknown. Congress could still pass the CLARITY Act, which would supersede whatever the CFTC drafts on its own.
The CLARITY Act has bipartisan support in Congress, but legislative schedules are unpredictable. Selig's directive suggests the CFTC is preparing for the possibility that it never passes. Whether the agency will move quickly or wait to see if Congress acts first is not yet clear.
First reported by Cointelegraph - Read the full story.