CFTC Broadens Broker-Registration Relief for Passive Trading Software
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September 17, 2026 3:11 pm
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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has broadened a no-action position that can let qualifying providers of passive trading software avoid registering as introducing brokers, provided they stay within a defined set of conditions.
The agency’s September 17 announcement says the Market Participants Division will not recommend enforcement against covered providers or their relevant personnel solely for failing to register as an introducing broker or associated person. The relief applies when software facilitates a user’s trading with registered futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, or designated contract markets, and the provider stays within the position’s conditions rather than taking an active role in an order.
CFTC staff described the position as similar to Staff Letter 26-09, which addressed a passive wallet and browser-interface model, but said the new relief is broadly available to qualifying providers. That gives developers a public framework for products that display market information and transmit a user’s instructions to regulated entities.
.@CFTC Staff Issues No-Action Position to Providers of Passive Software: https://t.co/irgUh9JejX
— CFTC (@CFTC) September 17, 2026
The word passive is doing important work. The earlier CFTC Staff Letter 26-09, which the new position builds on, described software that lets users transmit orders directly to regulated trading partners without the provider exercising discretion over routing or execution.
That framework also drew lines around conduct that could look more like brokerage. A provider cannot simply call itself a software company while making trading decisions for users or becoming affirmatively involved in particular orders.
The no-action position is conditioned relief, not a blanket declaration that every wallet, interface, or trading application sits outside broker rules.
For crypto developers, the distinction matters because self-custodial wallets and front ends increasingly connect users to regulated derivatives markets. Registration obligations can change the cost and structure of a product.
Clearer treatment for software that only presents information and relays a user’s instructions could make those integrations easier to evaluate.
— Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) September 16, 2026
A no-action position states that agency staff will not recommend enforcement under the specified facts and conditions. It does not rewrite the Commodity Exchange Act, create a permanent statutory exemption, or prevent the commission from adopting future rules or guidance.
That difference is central for any company considering the relief. Product design, custody, compensation, marketing, order handling, and relationships with registered entities all affect whether the provider remains inside the passive-software boundary.
A feature that recommends trades or controls execution could change the analysis.
The CFTC said the new position is similar to the relief in Staff Letter 26-09 but is now broadly available to providers that satisfy the conditions. Firms can now compare their software with a framework written for qualifying providers generally.
For the broader digital-asset market, the action offers a clearer path for software companies that want to connect users with regulated venues without taking custody or acting like traditional intermediaries. It also leaves the harder boundary questions intact: how much curation, routing, or commercial involvement turns a neutral interface into brokerage activity?
The immediate takeaway is narrow but meaningful. The CFTC is distinguishing software that transmits a user’s decision from businesses that influence or execute that decision.
Crypto wallets and trading front ends may benefit, but their actual behavior must match the conditions.
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