The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted proposed crypto regulations to the White House for review, days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act. The filing, titled “Regulation of Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation of Crypto Asset Markets,” initiates an executive review process and keeps the agency’s digital asset market structure work moving while congressional negotiations continue. The action does not represent a final rule or active compliance requirement but places planned rules inside federal review before a public proposal.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs received the CFTC action on September 17. The entry remains under review as a prelude, and its full text has not been published yet.
This comes after the Senate’s September 15 vote on the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, which fell short of the required 60 votes with a 49‑50 margin on cloture. Seven Democratic senators stated they remain committed to continued bipartisan negotiations, calling the vote “a setback” but not the end of the road.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig had already prepared an alternative if Congress failed to pass market structure legislation. On August 20, he directed staff to develop crypto rules using existing CFTC authority.
Selig said existing firms and some unregistered crypto exchanges could be designated as “crypto asset markets.” This designation will include leveraged or margined crypto transactions within CFTC jurisdiction.
The White House review does not affect the rules’ effectiveness. The OIRA entry classifies the action as a prerule, meaning it remains at an early stage. A formal proposal must be published and opened for public comment before a final rule can proceed.
Exchanges and market actors still lack details on registration requirements and trading obligations under the CFTC crypto framework. The filing coincided with relief granted by the CFTC’s Market Participants Division regarding passive software providers.
The Division said qualifying passive software providers meeting certain conditions will not face recommended enforcement for failing to register as introducing brokers. This relief covers software assisting individuals in transactions involving futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, and designated contract markets.
On September 17, the SEC also took action, approving a temporary “Innovation Exemption” for selective trading of tokenized National Market System securities on qualified blockchain venues. Those venues must employ automated market makers and liquidity pools in a permissioned environment, with certain reporting and technological safeguards.
The next step is completion of the OIRA review. Congress also has the option of the CLARITY Act, with negotiations continuing after the failed vote. Both avenues now run parallel: one side works on crypto rules under current legal authority, the other continues work on a statutory framework for digital asset markets.
