The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will start drafting its own regulatory framework for crypto markets if Congress fails to pass the Clarity Act, Chair Michael Selig said on 20 Aug. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled a cloture vote on the bill for 15 Sept – the procedural step needed to end debate.
CFTC to Draft Crypto Rules if Clarity Act Stalls, Selig Says
21 August 2026 - 05:17 UTC
By Oihyun Kim
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the regulator's Innovation Advisory Committee, Selig said he had directed CFTC staff to explore rules that would establish a 'crypto asset market' regulatory category under the agency's current statutory powers. He also instructed staff to engage with developers of onchain finance protocols on how they can legally offer products in the US.
Fallback rulemaking
The framework would designate existing CFTC registrants and unregistered crypto exchanges – potentially including Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange by trading volume, and Kraken, its San Francisco-based rival – as a new type of designated contract market, permitting leveraged trading in assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) under rules the CFTC would write for the category.
The Clarity Act would formally divide oversight of digital assets between the CFTC and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but has stalled in the Senate as Democrats push for stronger ethics safeguards.
Their concerns centre on the Trump family's crypto ventures, including WLFI, a governance token issued by the Trump family's crypto venture World Liberty Financial; USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by the same company; and American Bitcoin, a Bitcoin mining company. Senators from both parties have proposed a revised ethics provision that the White House has yet to accept.
"If Clarity continues to stall because of Democrat obstruction, the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets," Selig said, adding that staff would "move swiftly" to propose rules for the industry.
Two agencies, two tracks
On 18 Aug, the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which would allow token fundraising of up to $75mn without full registration. At a White House event on 19 Aug, SEC Chair Paul Atkins told US President Donald Trump that "the most important priority is for Congress to send the Clarity Act" to his desk.
Selig said the CFTC would give the bill "breathing room" for the September vote before moving unilaterally. At the same meeting, Selig also signalled forthcoming changes to the rules governing prediction market exchanges.
