SEC and CFTC’s new joint guidance ‘opens the door for even more’ mainstream crypto adoption
For the first time, both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission clarified that they both state that nothing in current law prevents registered U.S. exchanges from listing and facilitating the trading of certain spot crypto asset products.
In a joint statement Tuesday, staff from the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets and the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight and Division of Clearing and Risk said they view that "SEC- and CFTC-registered exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating the trading of certain spot commodity products." This includes CFTC-registered designated contract markets (DCMs), foreign board of trade (FBOTs), and SEC-registered national securities exchanges (NSEs).
"Today's joint staff statement represents a significant step forward in bringing innovation in the crypto asset markets back to America," SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated in the release. "Market participants should have the freedom to choose where they trade spot crypto assets. The SEC is committed to working with the CFTC to ensure that our regulatory frameworks support innovation and competition in these rapidly evolving markets."
This initiative is part of the SEC's Project Crypto and the CFTC's Crypto Sprint, and it builds on the recommendations of the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report. CFTC Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham last month launched the Crypto Sprint and announced an initiative to solicit public comment on listing spot crypto asset contracts on DCMs.
"The joint statement from the SEC and CFTC today gives major U.S. exchanges the green light to offer spot trading on leading digital assets," Two Prime Digital Assets CEO Alexander Blume said in an email to The Block. "This opens the door for even more mainstream adoption, granting direct access to these commodity assets at venues where trillions of dollars already reside."
Market participants are invited to engage with SEC or CFTC staff to discuss any questions or concerns they may have, according to the joint statement. The divisions stand "ready to engage with market participants and support consideration by their respective agencies of exchange trading in certain spot crypto asset products."
While crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini allow the trading of spot crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, they are not NSEs or DCMs, so they don't fall under the same federal market structure as major traditional U.S. exchanges like the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. Of note, the SEC dropped lawsuits against the aforementioned crypto exchanges earlier this year.
"The NYSE, Nasdaq, CBOE, CME, etc, will soon have spot trading for BTC, ETH, and more," Matthew Sigel, VanEck's head of digital assets research, said in a post on X reacting to Tuesday's statement.
The Trump administration has worked on making the United States the "crypto capital" of the world. Earlier this summer, a bill to regulate stablecoins was signed by President Trump — the first significant crypto-related legislation to be signed into U.S. law. Lawmakers are in the midst of creating and passing a crypto market structure bill.
Blume said Tuesday's news also makes Bitcoin products, combined with more traditional products, much more easily created and available to the public.
"Bottom Line: The turf wars are ending," said Gerald Gallagher, general counsel for the Sei protocol, in a post on X. "The SEC and CFTC are rowing in the same direction. The U.S. just validated the importance of building high-performance crypto trading infrastructure."
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