As market-structure legislation stalls in Congress, the SEC and CFTC are advancing separate crypto-related rulemakings, including a fresh examination of derivatives jurisdiction and a rewrite of custody standards.
A group of former officials from both agencies—including ex-CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo and former CFTC Commissioners Brian Quintenz and Sharon Brown-Hruska—has urged a lighter regulatory touch in a comment letter submitted this month. The signatories argue that similar financial risks should receive comparable regulatory treatment and that overly complex rules continue pushing cryptocurrency derivatives trading to offshore platforms.
The officials point to the scale of the market at stake. Offshore perpetual futures trading reached $90 trillion in 2025, up from approximately $28 trillion two years earlier, according to estimates cited in the letter. Giancarlo stated that sensible U.S. regulation calibrated to actual risk could draw that liquidity onshore.
Derivatives jurisdiction
In June, the SEC and CFTC requested public comment on how swaps, security-based swaps, and emerging derivatives products should be classified and where each agency's authority begins and ends. The question carries particular significance for perpetual futures, which the CFTC has signaled interest in bringing under U.S. regulation.
The former officials' letter emphasizes that overlapping or miscalibrated rules increase compliance costs without enhancing investor protection, and that regulatory clarity is needed promptly to keep trading in U.S. markets.
SEC custody rules
Separately, the SEC has submitted a rewrite of its crypto custody rules to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. The proposed rule aims to clarify how SEC-regulated investment advisers and investment companies can provide custodial services for digital assets while meeting federal securities requirements.
The agency previously attempted to address crypto custody in 2022 through a sweeping safeguarding proposal that would have expanded adviser custody rules to cover virtually all client assets, including cryptocurrencies. That proposal was abandoned last year.
The SEC's "Reg Crypto" proposal, which would establish rules for certain crypto asset offerings, has been published in the Federal Register and is accepting public comment through October 20.
