La CFTC presenta su plan de supervisión federal para los exchanges de criptomonedas: normas CTX y CA
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken its first step toward building a federal oversight framework for crypto trading platforms. The agency has published a preliminary notice of proposed rulemaking that introduces two interconnected regimes: Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM.
The document comes after the Clarity Act failed to gain enough traction in the Senate. Now the CFTC is acting on its own, inviting the market to weigh in on the concept for 60 days from its official publication in the Federal Register.
Why Leverage Changes Everything
At the heart of the plan is a provision from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Under it, retail commodity transactions offered with leverage, margin, or financing must be executed on a CFTC-registered exchange - as if they were futures.
The CFTC interprets this rule broadly. If a platform merely mentions the possibility of leverage in its onboarding documents or terms of service, even fully paid spot trades could fall under federal oversight - provided the purchased crypto remains on the exchange's internal ledger rather than in the customer's own wallet.
Actual delivery is the only way out from under oversight. The regulator proposes to consider it complete only when the user controls the private keys themselves.
On-chain protocols where tokens are sent directly to a user's wallet, in the CFTC's view, generally pass this test and would not be subject to the new restrictions.
CTX and CAM: Two Regulatory Layers
The first regime, Regulation CTX, defines which transactions fall under CFTC jurisdiction. The second, Regulation CAM, creates a new status of "crypto asset market."
- Regulation CTX: federal oversight covers leveraged transactions where no actual delivery of the digital asset takes place.
- Regulation CAM: exchanges will be able to register as a new type of federal market - an adapted version of the designated contract market status.
- Trading would flow through futures commission merchants (FCMs) - brokers required to comply with anti-money laundering rules.
- Only such a broker, or a bank sponsoring it, would be able to extend leverage.
- An exchange may register simultaneously as a broker and a clearing organization.
What Else the CFTC Is Considering
The regulator is also weighing proof-of-reserves requirements and standards designed to prevent the listing of tokens prone to manipulation. Platforms that do not offer leverage could continue operating under state money transmitter licenses.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig explained that the rules are meant to prevent fraudulent schemes in advance, rather than merely pursuing them after the fact.
"The framework is designed to prevent, rather than just punish after the fact, scams like FTX," Selig said.
In the notice, the CFTC also criticizes its own earlier approach: the cases against Kraken, Ooki DAO, and Uniswap are labeled "regulation by enforcement."
The SEC's Parallel Track
The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving in the same direction. In August, the SEC proposed its own Regulation Crypto Assets, and last month it introduced an innovation exemption for tokenized equities.
The CFTC document was sent to the White House for review back in September, just days after the Clarity Act failed in the Senate. If Congress does not pass standalone legislation, the CFTC is prepared to lock in the rules through its own action.
