CFTC Chairman Michael Selig against a bright blockchain market backdrop

CFTC Opens a Federal Crypto Rulebook With CTX and CAM Proposals

By Isaac • October 5, 2026 3:10 pm • Comments

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has taken its first formal step toward a federal rulebook built specifically for crypto markets.

On Monday, the CFTC opened public comment on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking covering Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions, or CTX, and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, or CAM.

The proposal is not a finished rule and does not immediately change how Americans trade. It begins the process of deciding what a federal, CFTC-supervised option should look like for exchanges offering leveraged retail crypto transactions.

Trending: BitMine’s Ethereum Treasury Hits 6 Million ETH as Its 5% Target Comes Into View

The agency is asking for comment on registration, market surveillance, customer protection, financial integrity and the treatment of customer property. It is also considering a proof-of-reserves obligation for exchanges that keep customer assets in omnibus accounts.

Washington has spent years debating whether digital-asset policy should be forced into old categories. The CFTC is now asking a narrower question: What purpose-built rules should apply when a platform offers retail customers crypto trades on a margined, leveraged or financed basis?

A federal option, not a federal takeover

Chairman Selig laid out the agency’s theory in a statement published by the CFTC. His proposal organizes crypto venues into three practical levels based on whether they offer ordinary spot trading, leveraged retail transactions or derivatives.

Ordinary spot exchanges would remain primarily under state money-transmitter regimes and the CFTC’s anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority. The federal lane would become relevant when a venue offers retail customers crypto on a margined, leveraged or financed basis.

Platforms that want to offer leveraged retail crypto transactions would have a path into direct federal oversight. Existing designated contract markets could offer CTX products under tailored rules, while crypto-only venues could seek the new CAM designation and accept duties covering surveillance, financial integrity, conflicts and system safeguards.

Selig described the structure as a federal option rather than a command that every exchange abandon state licensing. Only Congress can impose a broader national registration mandate, so the agency is building around the authority already attached to leveraged commodity transactions.

Under the concept, an existing designated contract market could offer CTX products under tailored rules. A platform focused only on those transactions could instead seek designation as a new type of market called a crypto asset market, or CAM.

The agency says that approach would put core protections around market surveillance, financial integrity, customer funds, conflicts of interest and system safeguards. It is also considering proof-of-reserves duties for exchanges that hold customer property in omnibus accounts.

The proposal further contemplates requiring futures commission merchants to intermediate CTX trades. Those firms would carry customer accounts and funds under existing capital, disclosure, segregation and supervision duties.

That structure would also bring customer-facing activity under applicable Bank Secrecy Act obligations. The agency is seeking feedback on how those traditional requirements should fit always-on crypto markets without blurring responsibility for customer property.

Why leverage is the jurisdictional hinge

The proposal does not pretend the CFTC can order every spot crypto exchange into a single federal system. Selig acknowledged that Congress would have to grant that broader authority.

The agency’s existing jurisdiction is clearest when retail customers are trading commodities with margin, leverage or financing.

That makes CTX and CAM an attempt to build from authority the CFTC already has instead of waiting indefinitely for Congress. The CLARITY Act failed to reach President Trump, leaving regulators to work with existing statutes while lawmakers decide whether to establish a more comprehensive market structure.

The CFTC also tied the proposal to the lessons of FTX. State money-transmitter licenses were never designed as a complete market-regulation system.

Federal market rules can impose clearer duties around segregation, manipulation, conflicts and customer protection, especially when leverage increases the consequences of failure.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong welcomed the start of the comment process and credited Selig for moving the rulemaking forward.

The details will decide whether the option works

The broad architecture sounds friendly to U.S. crypto businesses, but the next stage is where the real tradeoffs appear. Capital requirements, custody rules, intermediary duties, listing standards and the treatment of customer property can determine whether a federal pathway is useful or simply expensive.

The proposal also contemplates futures commission merchant intermediation. That could bring established customer-protection and anti-money-laundering obligations into the structure, while raising questions about how traditional futures rules should be adapted for always-on crypto markets.

For the industry, the immediate opportunity is the comment period. Exchanges, custodians, investors and consumer advocates now have a chance to shape the rules before the CFTC moves to a more specific proposal.

For the market, the bigger signal is that federal regulators are no longer waiting for a perfect legislative answer before trying to create a workable lane.

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

 

Search ProCoinNews