CFTC Chairman Michael Selig has pledged to help reshape regulations for onchain finance during Chainlink’s Link:NYC event, as the agency develops a federal registration pathway for crypto trading platforms.
Summary
- Selig pledged regulatory work supporting onchain finance at Link:NYC.
- The CFTC’s crypto exchange registration framework remains under consultation.
- Existing plans distinguish ordinary spot trading from leveraged retail transactions.
- SEC cooperation and prediction-market oversight form separate parts of the agency’s agenda.
Chainlink’s official event updates attributed the remarks to Selig at the Oct. 29 gathering, where he praised companies working on blockchain-based financial markets.
CFTC Chair Selig promises work on onchain finance
In the statement published by the event organizer, Selig said the future of onchain finance could be determined by discussions taking place at the conference. He expressed the agency’s support for companies developing the sector and its willingness to help reshape the applicable regulations.
“We’re excited to play a role in reshaping regulations for this ecosystem,” Selig said.
His appearance follows an October consultation on how crypto platforms could operate within a federal framework. As crypto.news previously reported, the agency is developing a voluntary registration pathway using its existing statutory authority while Congress has yet to enact a crypto market-structure law.
The Oct. 26 report described plans for exchanges offering leveraged, margined or financed retail crypto transactions. It identified customer funds, token listings, conflicts of interest and proof of reserves among the safeguards being considered for participating venues.
Published as an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, the consultation seeks public input before possible future rules. The agency opened the process on Oct. 5, and the notice’s Federal Register publication sets Dec. 14, 2026, as the comment deadline.
Crypto exchange plans distinguish spot trading from leverage
During his Oct. 5 Fordham remarks, Selig described three categories of exchanges with different regulatory obligations. Ordinary spot venues generally operate under state money-transmission laws, while remaining subject to the CFTC’s anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority.
Platforms offering retail customers margined, leveraged or financed crypto transactions fall into a separate category requiring CFTC registration, he said. Exchanges offering perpetual contracts and other derivatives occupy a third category under the agency’s jurisdiction.
Selig acknowledged that only Congress can require all crypto exchanges to register with the commission. His proposed approach would give qualifying platforms a federal route based on the services they offer.
The contemplated crypto asset market designation, known as CAM, would be a subcategory of designated contract market. Selig said platforms offering futures, options or swaps would remain subject to the existing designated contract market framework.
His speech separately described work on a policy for software developers who do not solicit orders, control execution or hold customer assets. Staff was directed to examine how onchain venues operate and where control resides.
The agency’s October consultation announcement seeks feedback on Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions, or CTX, and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets. Earlier coverage of the federal crypto trading proposals distinguished the consultation from an adopted market-wide framework.
The release grounds the planned rules in Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act. It asks how a national regime could prevent abusive practices, explain crypto-specific compliance expectations, and establish the CAM registration category through rulemaking.
In his statement accompanying the consultation, Selig said the commission wanted regulations capable of preventing fraudulent schemes before customers suffered losses. The agency said information received during the consultation would inform potential future action.
Written submissions would be publicly posted, giving market participants an opportunity to comment on both the transaction rules and the proposed platform designation.
SEC cooperation includes guidance on crypto asset status
Cooperation with the SEC predates the October exchange consultation. In a March 17 announcement, the securities regulator published an interpretation addressing how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets and transactions.
The CFTC joined that interpretation with guidance that it and its staff would administer the Commodity Exchange Act consistently with the SEC’s interpretation. Both agencies described the action as part of their work to give market participants clearer treatment under existing law.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the interpretation recognized that most crypto assets are not themselves securities and that investment contracts can come to an end. He described the guidance as a bridge while Congress worked on market-structure legislation.
Selig’s accompanying statement committed the two regulators to workable, harmonized regulations. The announcement addressed asset and transaction classifications without presenting the October CAM registration framework as an already available license.
Prediction markets remain subject to manipulation scrutiny
Separate prediction market oversight coverage published Oct. 24 described Selig’s monitoring of possible manipulation ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, drawing on reporting about his Bloomberg interview.
The report detailed completed CFTC settlements involving Gabriel Perez and former Rep. George Santos. Perez was ordered to return $107,539.02 in trading profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty after the agency found that he used advance access to presidential speeches to trade related contracts.
Santos’s settlement required the return of $17,569.98 in profits and a $17,500 civil penalty over trading tied to his attendance at the 2026 State of the Union address. Both settlements imposed three-year trading bans.
