The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for public inspection on October 9; it is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on October 13. It asks the public for comment on retail crypto transactions offered with leverage, margin or financing. It is not a proposed rule.
What kind of document this is
The Register's type field says "Proposed Rule." Its ACTION line says "Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking," and its summary says the CFTC seeks comment on "its intent to develop and establish fit-for-purpose rules." It contains no regulatory text and prints no effective date. The CFTC says comments will inform its consideration of "whether and how to proceed with rulemaking."
What section 2(c)(2)(D) covers
This part of the Commodity Exchange Act covers deals in any commodity with someone who is not an "eligible contract participant" or "eligible commercial entity," when entered into, or merely offered, "on a leveraged or margined basis, or financed by the offeror, the counterparty, or a person acting in concert with" either. Unless an exception applies, such as a sale that "results in actual delivery within 28 days" (or a longer period the CFTC may set by rule), the deal must be conducted on, or subject to the rules of, a CFTC-registered exchange.
The two outlines
The notice outlines two possible regulations, called "proposed" but described as preliminary.
Regulation CTX gives the CFTC's preliminary reading of two terms. An offer of leverage, margin or financing brings the resulting fully paid trade under the CFTC's jurisdiction "even if the offer of leverage, margin, or financing is declined." For "actual delivery," possession and control of a crypto asset "may require possession of the credentials (e.g., private key(s))" to the wallet address or account holding it; a fully paid purchase "only recorded on an internal book-entry of the exchange" stays subject to the Act until actual delivery.
Regulation CAM sketches a subcategory of exchange registration, a "crypto asset market," for exchanges that list only these trades. It contemplates orders going through a futures commission merchant (a CFTC-registered broker), clearing by a derivatives clearing organization (a clearinghouse), and leverage only through arrangements administered by such a broker or by a "qualified banking institution" one sponsors.
Some of the questions it asks
- Would its reading of "offer" give an exchange a commercially viable way to not offer these trades and stay under state regulation?
- What should "actual delivery" mean for crypto, including staking?
- Should the CFTC permit "rehypothecation" (re-pledging) of customers' crypto in margined trades?
- Should registered intermediaries be required to tell customers how an insolvency of the platform or intermediary would affect the treatment of their assets?
- What practices or terms should be considered abusive in offering financing?
Comments and dates
The document lists Regulations.gov, mail or hand delivery, and asks for one route only. Comments will be published "without review for, and without removal of," personal identifying information or information a business may consider confidential, it says.
The public-inspection DATES line prints a bracket: "[INSERT DATE 60 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]." The CFTC's own copy carries one too. The Register's own record for the scheduled October 13 issue states the date: "Comments must be received on or before December 14, 2026." By this desk's count, 60 days after October 13 is Saturday, December 12. The Register's Document Drafting Handbook says that when a computed date falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, it uses the next federal business day, here Monday, December 14. Check the printed October 13 text.
What it says about the SEC
The notice says the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission chairmen announced in January that "Project Crypto" would proceed as a joint effort. It says it seeks to provide "a complementary federal regulatory framework" for crypto assets subject to the safe harbor the SEC proposed in August.