CFTC Chair Selig Backs Onchain Finance Rules With Dec 14 Comment Deadline

Selig Pledges Regulatory Role at Link:NYC

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig committed the agency to helping reshape the rules for onchain finance, speaking at Chainlink's Link:NYC gathering in New York on Oct. 29. “We're excited to play a role in reshaping regulations for this ecosystem,” Selig said in a statement published through the event organizer, adding that the future of onchain finance could be settled by the discussions underway at the conference. The one-day Chainlink program covered institutional real-world assets, interoperability, stablecoins, payments and PayFi settlement models, though the event itself carried no announcement of new rules or an implementation schedule. Selig's appearance lands mid-consultation. On Oct. 5 the CFTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, a pre-rule step that collects input before any binding text exists, asking how a federal framework should treat certain retail virtual asset transactions. The notice ran in the Federal Register on Oct. 13, and the comment window closes on Dec. 14, 2026. Through the official consultation announcement, the CFTC seeks feedback on two planned rule sets: Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions, or CTX, and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, or CAM. The release grounds both in Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act, the provision the commission cites for authority over certain retail commodity transactions, and asks how a national regime could prevent abusive practices, define crypto-specific compliance expectations and create the CAM registration category by rulemaking. The CFTC has framed the work as a voluntary registration pathway built on existing statutory authority, since Congress has not enacted a crypto market-structure law. Questions on customer asset protection and market surveillance are also open for comment, and the agency states that written submissions will be posted publicly and used to decide whether any future rulemaking follows.

Three Registration Routes for Venues

The three-tier framework Selig described in his Fordham speech of Oct. 5 separates venues by what they trade. Ordinary spot trading platforms generally operate under state money-transmission regimes while remaining subject to the CFTC's anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority. A second category covers platforms that give retail customers margined, leveraged or financed crypto transactions; those would need CFTC registration. Venues offering contract trading in perpetual contracts and other derivatives sit in a third bucket under the agency's existing designated contract market (DCM) framework, which governs platforms listing futures, options and swaps. CAM, as contemplated, would be a subcategory of DCM, and operators not yet registered could choose between full DCM status and the lighter CAM designation. Selig acknowledged that only Congress can compel every crypto exchange to register with the commission; his proposed route instead offers qualifying platforms a federal path keyed to the services they provide. The consultation lists customer funds, token listings, conflicts of interest and proof of reserves among the safeguards under review. Software developers have a separate track: a Sept. 17 staff position said the agency would not recommend enforcement against passive providers that neither solicit orders, control execution nor hold customer assets, limited to software that facilitates transactions between registered futures commission merchants, introducing brokers and DCMs. Coordination with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) predates the consultation. In a March 17 announcement, the SEC published an interpretation stating that most crypto assets are not themselves securities and that investment contracts can come to an end; the CFTC committed to administer the Commodity Exchange Act consistently with that reading. Selig has also said he is watching prediction markets for manipulation ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Completed settlements include an order for Gabriel Perez to return $107,539.02 in trading profits and pay a $65,000 civil penalty, and for former Rep. George Santos to return $17,569.98 and pay $17,500, each with a three-year trading ban.

A Voluntary Path Until Congress Acts

A voluntary route until Congress acts remains the binding constraint on the whole program. The Dec. 14 deadline decides how broad the eventual CTX and CAM text will be, since every element from customer-fund safeguards to how onchain venues store collateral is still framed as a question rather than a rule. The design also splits labor with the SEC: the March interpretation settles how an asset is classified, while the CFTC consultation addresses where and how a platform may register to trade it. For venues weighing the federal path, the comment window, not the Link:NYC remarks, is the operative step.