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The CFTC didn’t wait. One day after the Senate let the CLARITY Act die on the floor, the agency submitted a formal regulatory plan for crypto markets to the White House — September 17, on the record.
The filing landed with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. What’s inside? Not much publicly. The action is labeled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets,” and it’s sitting at the “prerule” stage — meaning the CFTC hasn’t released specifics yet. No draft text, no comment period, no formal proposal. Just a signal that something is moving. The Senate had voted on September 15, two days earlier, and the CLARITY Act — which would have given the crypto sector a long-awaited federal framework — didn’t get through. That failure seems to have pushed the CFTC into motion fast.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig didn’t stay quiet.
Selig and Atkins Signal Independent Action
Right after the Senate vote, Selig posted on social media that the agency is ready to move on its own. His position: the CFTC already has the statutory authority it needs, and it’s not going to sit around waiting for Congress to sort itself out. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said basically the same thing — that the SEC can proceed regardless of what happens legislatively. Two agency chairs, same message, within days of the Senate’s inaction. That’s not a coincidence.
The CFTC had already been thinking about this before the vote. At the Innovation Advisory Committee conference in August — specifically August 20 — Selig laid out the agency’s thinking pretty clearly. The CFTC was looking at ways to build a crypto asset market regime using its existing powers, even if the CLARITY Act never made it through. So the September 17 filing wasn’t improvised. It’s been in the works.
What does that regime actually look like? The broad idea is to let both registered and unregistered crypto exchanges operate as designated contract markets. That’s a significant shift. Designated contract markets sit under direct CFTC oversight, and the framework would potentially allow leveraged and margined trading on those platforms. Right now, that kind of trading is a gray area for most crypto exchanges. If the CFTC moves forward, it would bring those operations into a regulated structure — with all the compliance requirements that come with it.
SEC Moves in Parallel, Coinbase Weighs In
The CFTC isn’t acting alone. The SEC granted temporary exemptions to certain platforms dealing with tokenized securities — on-chain trading platforms that probably couldn’t meet existing registration rules. And the CFTC issued a no-action position for passive software providers. Neither of these moves is permanent, but they’re clearly meant to buy time while the bigger regulatory picture gets drawn.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong weighed in on all of this. He said he expected both agencies to move forward after the vote, and he’s confident the SEC and CFTC have enough tools in their existing frameworks to create clear rules. Armstrong didn’t hedge much — he seems to think the agencies can get this done without new legislation. Whether that confidence is warranted is another question, but it’s notable that one of the biggest players in U.S. crypto is publicly backing the regulators’ go-it-alone approach.
That’s not nothing. Coinbase has been pushing for regulatory clarity for years, and Armstrong’s read on the situation matters to the market. If exchanges and major platforms start operating under the assumption that the CFTC will establish a designated contract market framework, that shapes how they build compliance infrastructure right now — before any final rule drops.
What’s Actually Known — and What Isn’t
Unclear how long the prerule stage lasts. The CFTC hasn’t given a timeline. No additional comments from either agency on the specifics. The crypto community is watching, but there’s not much to watch yet — just a filing with a broad title and a stage designation that basically means “early.”
And the CLARITY Act isn’t necessarily dead forever. It failed to advance this time, but Congress has revisited crypto legislation before. If the CFTC’s independent rulemaking runs into legal challenges — and it probably will — legislative pressure could build again. Some industry lawyers are already skeptical that the CFTC can build a full market regime purely on existing authority without Congress drawing clearer lines.
But for now, the agency is moving. The plan is filed. Selig has said publicly the CFTC is equipped to do this. Atkins echoed it at the SEC. And the August conference made clear that Selig had been preparing for exactly this scenario — legislative failure followed by regulatory action.
The prerule stage for “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets” is now officially on the White House’s desk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the CFTC file with the White House on September 17?
The CFTC submitted a regulatory plan titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets” to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, currently in its prerule stage with no public details released.
What is the CLARITY Act and why did it matter?
The CLARITY Act was a proposed federal framework for digital asset regulation; the Senate failed to advance it on September 15, prompting the CFTC to pursue independent rulemaking using its existing statutory authority.
Why It Matters
The CFTC's submission of a regulatory plan to the White House signals a proactive approach to establishing a framework for crypto markets, particularly in the absence of the CLARITY Act, which aimed to provide clearer guidelines. This move highlights the urgency for regulatory clarity in the crypto space as market participants seek stability and transparency amidst ongoing uncertainty. The agency’s actions could influence the trajectory of regulatory discourse and impact how crypto assets are treated in the broader financial ecosystem.
