Rather than remaining passive, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has forwarded its cryptocurrency regulations to the White House for examination.
On Thursday, the commission submitted “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets” to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), an arm of the Office of Management and Budget tasked with evaluating federal rules prior to release.
The CFTC chose not to provide specific comments regarding the contents of the proposed regulations.
Government regulators are moving forward independently after the Clarity Act—a major piece of legislation designed to introduce the first comprehensive federal oversight for the digital asset sector—failed during a Senate procedural vote on Tuesday.
Prominent Democratic negotiators pointed to ethical worries as the primary factor behind their opposition to the measure. President Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings, currently valued in the hundreds of millions and connected to World Liberty Financial (the enterprise managed by his sons) alongside his personal memecoin, have sparked concern among legislators regarding the extent of his influence while his administration drafts policies.
On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled its eagerly awaited “innovation exemption” aimed at facilitating onchain trading for tokenized equities. Additionally, on Thursday, the CFTC published a “no-action position” dedicated to software creators, stating it will refrain from suggesting enforcement measures against them for omitting introducing broker registration provided specific criteria are satisfied.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig previously stated that he would “leverage its current powers to set up a framework for cryptocurrency markets” if the Clarity Act were to stall. During an August address, Selig noted that he instructed personnel to explore pathways for developers to deploy protocols, mentioning that the CFTC was investigating regulations to “establish a formal CFTC market framework for digital assets by leveraging the commission’s present legal authority.”
“Such a framework could allow existing registered entities as well as unregistered crypto platforms to be recognized by the CFTC as a designated contract market category termed a crypto asset market, permitting them to facilitate digital asset trading utilizing leverage or margin under customized guidelines monitored by the CFTC,” Selig explained in August.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-18-cftc-files-crypto-asset-rulemaking-with-white-house-pressing-ahead-without-congress-415510.
