CFTC Chairman Mike Selig Details Crypto Rule Plans as CFTC and SEC Close Oversight Gap

TLDR

Selig said the CFTC and SEC are working together under Project Crypto.

The CFTC will draft guidance and rulemaking for prediction markets.

The agency will clarify registration rules for DeFi software providers.

The CFTC is reviewing crypto perpetuals and margined spot trading rules.

The CFTC has outlined a wider digital asset rule agenda as its chair moves closer to the SEC on oversight. The plan covers prediction markets, DeFi software, crypto perpetuals, spot margin rules, and AI-driven trading systems.

Speaking at the FIA Global Cleared Markets Conference in Boca Raton on March 10, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the United States is restoring leadership in digital assets. He also said the agency and the SEC have moved past earlier jurisdiction fights through their joint Project Crypto effort.

Selig Links Crypto Oversight to SEC Coordination

Selig said SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and the CFTC are now working in tandem on crypto market oversight. He said the two agencies have “put an end to the days of CFTC-SEC infighting” by partnering on Project Crypto.

Atkins gave a parallel message in his own March 10 remarks. He said the agencies are considering an updated memorandum of understanding, joint staff meetings on product applications, and closer coordination on exams and enforcement.

Atkins also said firms should not be sent back and forth between agencies when products touch both legal frameworks. He said the “regrettable era of duplicative enforcement actions” is over, and that overlapping supervision should move toward coordinated handling.

Prediction Markets Move to the Front of the Agenda

Selig said the CFTC will draft guidance on how event contracts may be listed and traded under the agency’s statutory framework. He also said staff will prepare an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to gather public feedback on the fast-growing market.

He said the CFTC has regulated prediction markets for decades and called them well within the agency’s authority. He also said the CFTC will keep defending that authority as state-level legal fights continue.

Atkins said national securities exchanges are also exploring event-based products in SEC-regulated markets. He said market participants deserve “clarity and good-faith cooperation” whether those products sit with the SEC or the CFTC.

DeFi, Spot Margin, and Perpetuals are Also Under Review

Selig said the CFTC will address whether developers of non-custodial software systems, including wallets and DeFi applications, trigger intermediary registration rules. He said the agency intends to address that issue directly after a long period of uncertainty.

He also said staff are considering rules for leveraged, margined, or financed retail crypto transactions under the “actual delivery” exception. Those efforts would also set standards for margined spot trading on exchanges.

Selig added that the agency is considering how to clarify its views on “true crypto-perpetuals.” That work matters because perpetual derivatives remain one of the largest crypto trading products outside the United States.

AI trading systems enter the policy discussion

Selig said artificial intelligence and autonomous systems are changing how digital markets operate. He said those systems now execute orders at speeds and volumes beyond human capacity, which places more pressure on regulators to update market rules.

His speech tied that work to a broader policy push around American-led digital market infrastructure. Together, the CFTC and SEC are now framing crypto oversight around coordinated supervision, clearer product treatment, and faster answers for firms building in U.S. markets.

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