U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chair Caroline Pham
Last weekend announced that the agency will launch an initiative called “Crypto Sprint” to begin implementing the recommendations outlined in the White House cryptocurrency policy report.
Pham stated that the CFTC will work closely with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce on the recently announced “Project Crypto.” She said:
These actions aim to implement specific recommendations directed at various regulatory agencies as outlined in a report by Trump’s “Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets,” which stemmed from an executive order on cryptocurrency signed by Trump in January.
18 Recommendations to CFTC
Trump’s cryptocurrency working group made 18 recommendations to the CFTC, two of which directly involve the agency. The first direct request is to advance a series of actions, including providing guidance on how cryptocurrencies can be classified as commodities, explaining how its registration requirements can work in conjunction with decentralized finance (DeFi), and providing guidance for entities regulated by the CFTC on engaging in cryptocurrency business. Another task is to evaluate how to modify rules to accommodate blockchain-based derivative financial products.
The other 16 recommendations related to the CFTC involve other financial regulatory bodies, such as the SEC and the U.S. Treasury.
Some recommendations call for the CFTC and SEC to collaborate, including coordinating the establishment of rule-making processes and utilizing their existing authority to provide comprehensive and clear regulatory guidelines. The two agencies are also asked to establish a regulatory sandbox and explore how registered entities can offer multiple services through a single user interface in long-term planning.
Several recommendations call for Congress to clarify the division of responsibilities between the CFTC and SEC in cryptocurrency regulation. The report states that the CFTC should be granted “explicit authority to regulate the spot market for non-security digital assets.”