CFTC Chair Mike Selig said the agency is advancing a voluntary federal registration path for crypto exchanges, after the Senate failed to move the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. In remarks reported on 26 October and carried by The Crypto Times and Crypto Economy, Selig told Bloomberg the aim is customer protection and rules closer to those in traditional derivatives markets. "Crypto markets deserve the same time-tested protections that have governed America's derivatives markets for generations," he wrote. "While Congress has yet to act, the CFTC is advancing a voluntary federal registration pathway for crypto exchanges."
The CLARITY Act is still short of 60 votes
The Senate blocked the bill on 15 September 2026. Crypto Economy reported a 50 to 49 vote, short of the 60 needed to advance. Without that statute, the CFTC cannot force every crypto venue onto its books. The voluntary path is the interim. Exchanges that opt in would sit nearer the Commodity Exchange Act's custody, segregation and conflict rules. Venues that stay out would keep operating without that federal registration. That split is the compliance question for platforms between now and any new vote.
CTX and CAM comments still close on 14 December
The paperwork is already open. On 13 October the CFTC published an advance notice on how existing commodity law should apply to certain leveraged retail crypto trades and the platforms that offer them. The notice set out two frameworks, Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions (CTX) and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets (CAM). We explained why that notice is not a final rule in our earlier CFTC note. Public comments run until 14 December 2026. Selig's interview does not close that file or adopt the rules. It tells exchanges the chair wants a registration door while the statute is missing. Firms that trade leveraged retail crypto, or that custody those trades, have until 14 December to say how CTX and CAM should work. Read the rest of today's regulation coverage, including the FCA tracing consultation that closes on 24 December.