CFTC sends crypto rules to White House to review as Congress stalls on Clarity Act

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission submitted a proposed crypto-market rulemaking to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review after the Senate did not advance the CLARITY Act. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a five-year conditional "innovation exemption" allowing qualifying platforms to offer onchain trading of certain tokenized stocks, while the CFTC issued no-action relief for some passive software providers to connect users to regulated derivatives markets without registering as introducing brokers.

By AI Newsroom· Reviewed by Pranav, Founder & Editor-in-ChiefPublished about 1 hour agoUpdated about 1 hour ago0 views

CFTC sends crypto rules to White House to review as Congress stalls on Clarity Act

Why It Matters

With congressional efforts to clarify digital-asset law stalled, both federal market regulators are using their existing authority to set policy: the CFTC advancing its own rulemaking process and the SEC opening a limited compliance pathway for tokenized-stock trading. Those agency actions could reshape how crypto trading infrastructure and tokenized products operate in the U.S.

Key Facts

CFTC action: Submitted a crypto market proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.
CLARITY Act: Failed to advance in the Senate prior to the CFTC submission.
Proposal details: Not disclosed publicly; scope and asset coverage unclear.
Next steps: OMB review, return to CFTC for a vote and public comment, then another vote for the rule to become effective.
SEC action: Issued a five-year conditional "innovation exemption" for qualifying tokenized-stock platforms to trade certain tokenized stocks onchain without registering as securities exchanges.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has moved a crypto-market proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget for administrative review after the Senate did not advance the CLARITY Act. The agency did not disclose the content of the proposal, so it is not yet known which digital assets would be covered, what standards exchanges would need to meet, or the contours of the CFTC's asserted authority.

Under the federal review process, the OMB will examine the draft and send it back to the CFTC, which must vote to publish the proposal for public comment. After that comment period the commission would hold an additional vote for the rule to take effect. CFTC Chair Mike Selig posted on X that the agency is "locked in" and prepared to finalize rules for what he described as the new frontier of finance.

At the same time, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a conditional, five-year "innovation exemption" that creates a regulatory path for qualifying platforms to offer onchain trading of certain tokenized stocks without registering as securities exchanges. The SEC and CFTC have said they will continue coordinating to provide regulatory clarity under their existing authorities now that the CLARITY Act did not proceed.

The CFTC also issued no-action relief aimed at certain passive software providers, including some crypto wallet interfaces, allowing them to connect users with regulated derivatives markets without registering as introducing brokers. The letter permits passive software that displays markets and forwards user orders directly to registered firms to market specific contracts and receive transaction-based fees, but it bars providers from holding customer assets, generating buy or sell signals, or controlling order routing or execution. The relief includes conditions such as risk disclosures, recordkeeping, and compliance with marketing rules, and it remains in effect until the CFTC issues rules or guidance on registration requirements for software developers.