On August 20, 2026, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael S. Selig used the inaugural meeting of the agency’s Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC) to outline the agency’s plans to develop a regulatory framework for crypto asset markets using existing CFTC authority, independent of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. In prepared remarks delivered at CFTC headquarters, Chairman Selig confirmed that he has “directed the CFTC staff to begin exploring rules to codify a CFTC market structure for crypto assets using the agency’s existing authorities.”
Rulemaking Alongside Pending Legislation
Since taking office in December 2025, Chairman Selig has maintained that comprehensive legislation remains his preferred approach to establishing durable crypto market structure. The CLARITY Act, which cleared the House and has been the subject of extended Senate Agriculture Committee work, faces an uncertain path forward as lawmakers continue to negotiate ethics provisions, including a revised proposal from Senators Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis that the White House has yet to endorse. With the Senate not expected to return to the legislation until a cloture vote in September, and the bill needing 60 votes to advance, Chairman Selig used the IAC meeting to signal that the agency is prepared to proceed under its own rulemaking authority if legislation is not enacted.
Chairman Selig was direct about the interplay between the legislative timeline and the CFTC’s own authority. “If CLARITY continues to stall,” he said, “the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets.” He added that the agency “will heed President Trump’s call to codify a future-proof digital asset market structure.” The remarks reflect the degree to which the CFTC’s rulemaking timeline is now linked to the Senate’s legislative calendar.
Regulatory Workstreams Under Development
Chairman Selig described several concrete workstreams already underway at the staff level. Most notably, he confirmed that the agency is exploring a new “crypto asset market” registration category, modeled on the CFTC’s existing designated contract market (DCM) framework, which would give currently unregistered crypto trading venues a pathway into the CFTC’s regulatory perimeter for leveraged and margined trading. “To achieve this, I’ve directed the CFTC staff to begin exploring rules to codify a CFTC market structure for crypto assets using the agency’s existing authorities,” he said, adding that the agency intends “to be in a position to move swiftly” once the legislative picture clarifies.
Chairman Selig also confirmed that staff have been directed to work with developers of on-chain finance protocols to give them a compliant path to operate domestically, describing an effort to “offer their protocols in a legal and compliant manner in the United States, future-proofing developer protections once and for all.” That initiative sits alongside previously announced plans, referenced again at the IAC meeting, to modernize the corporate governance and rules that apply to DCMs that list event contracts and to institute new consumer protection requirements for that market.
The IAC meeting came one day after Chairman Selig appeared alongside President Trump and industry executives at a White House event where the President urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the CLARITY Act. SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who this week released the SEC’s own proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, stated that “the most important priority is for Congress to send the CLARITY Act to your desk for your signature.” Selig reiterated his preference for legislation at the IAC meeting, describing it as the more durable outcome even as the agency develops its administrative alternative.
Industry representatives at the meeting, including Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse, offered perspectives on the current regulatory environment. Garlinghouse told attendees that “the technologies represented at the tables here can make moving money faster, more efficient, and more accessible,” while emphasizing that industry participants need regulatory “CLARITY to unlock that potential responsibly.”
Implications for Market Participants
For crypto exchanges, trading platforms, and developers of on-chain protocols, Chairman Selig’s statement indicates that regulatory development is proceeding through two potential channels, legislative and administrative, on a timeline now measured in weeks rather than years. Firms currently operating offshore or in unregistered structures may wish to consider assessing the gap between their current operations and the compliance infrastructure that a CFTC-administered “crypto asset market” registration category would likely require. Potential steps include conducting internal readiness assessments against the existing DCM framework—particularly around trade surveillance capabilities, market manipulation and wash-trading detection systems and internal enforcement and disciplinary functions—since the new category is expected to be modeled on that regime. Firms may also consider evaluating whether their current governance structures, including board composition, compliance staffing, and conflicts-of-interest policies, would satisfy the corporate governance standards the CFTC applies to registered trading venues.
Early engagement with CFTC staff, including through the agency’s existing no-action and exemptive relief processes, may allow firms to shape the contours of the emerging framework while positioning themselves for expedited registration once rules are finalized. Developers of non-custodial protocols may likewise consider monitoring forthcoming staff guidance related to the developer protections Chairman Selig referenced and may further wish to evaluate whether their protocol architecture permits the implementation of compliance controls without compromising core decentralization features.
Selig’s remarks reflect a broader pattern of the CFTC exercising existing statutory authority while legislative options remain pending. Market participants may expect the CFTC’s rulemaking calendar to accelerate if the Senate does not advance the CLARITY Act in September.
This post will be updated as developments occur in the CLARITY Act’s Senate path and the CFTC’s parallel rulemaking efforts, as well as further CFTC and SEC action.
If you have questions about how the latest development at the CFTC will impact your organization, please contact Jeff Le Riche, Kip Randall, or your Husch Blackwell attorney