The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched an initiative to explore the trading of spot cryptocurrency asset contracts on CFTC-registered futures exchanges.

Acting chairman Caroline D. Pham announced the move as part of the agency’s broader efforts to implement recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.

The CFTC is inviting public feedback on regulatory considerations for listing spot cryptocurrency contracts on designated contract markets (DCMs), including potential implications under securities laws.

Comments can be submitted through the CFTC website until August 18, 2025 and all submissions will be made public.

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🔗 Source: CFTC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ CFTC follows historical pattern of expanding during regulatory reform periods

The announcement represents another significant expansion of CFTC authority, following the agency’s major growth after the 2008 financial crisis.

The Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 dramatically expanded the CFTC’s regulatory powers over swaps markets valued at over $400 trillion, transforming it from primarily overseeing agricultural commodities to regulating complex financial derivatives1.

This expansion gave the CFTC authority over swap dealers, enhanced market transparency requirements, and real-time reporting of transactions—all implemented by December 20122.

The current crypto initiative reflects the CFTC’s history of taking on new asset classes during periods of regulatory modernization, building on federal court rulings since 2018 that confirmed cryptocurrencies fall under the agency’s commodity jurisdiction3.

Acting Chairman Pham’s reference to proposing this approach “since 2022” indicates the agency has been preparing for this expansion for years, similar to how it spent months developing Dodd-Frank implementation rules.

2️⃣ Strong institutional demand creates foundation for exchange-traded crypto products

The timing aligns with proven appetite for regulated crypto exposure, demonstrated by the explosive success of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.

The SEC approved the first 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, 2024, and daily trading volumes surged to nearly $10 billion by March 2024—surpassing previous records for ETF popularity4.

This institutional demand suggests that CFTC-regulated spot trading could attract similar participation, particularly since the Commodity Exchange Act already requires retail trading of commodities with leverage or margin to occur on registered exchanges1.

The coordination with “SEC’s Project Crypto” mentioned in the announcement suggests the agencies are moving away from their historical conflicts over cryptocurrency jurisdiction toward a collaborative approach5.

This regulatory cooperation could streamline the path for institutions that want both spot exposure through ETFs and derivative trading through CFTC-regulated exchanges, potentially creating a more comprehensive regulated crypto ecosystem.

Recent CFTC developments

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