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Staff at US securities regulator the Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC) and US derivatives regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have issued a Joint Statement clarifying that exchanges registered with either agency are not prohibited from facilitating trading in certain spot crypto products. The statement is framed as a co-ordinated effort to expand venue choice and optionality for market participants in crypto asset markets.
Paul Atkins, SEC Chairman
“Today’s joint staff statement represents a significant step forward in bringing innovation in the crypto asset markets back to America,” said SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. “Market participants should have the freedom to choose where they trade spot crypto assets. The SEC is committed to working with the CFTC to ensure that our regulatory frameworks support innovation and competition in these rapidly evolving markets.”
— Paul Atkins, SEC Chairman
Caroline D. Phamn, CFTC Acting Chairman
“Under the prior administration, our agencies sent mixed signals about regulation and compliance in digital asset markets, but the message was clear: innovation was not welcome. That chapter is over,” said CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham. “By working together, we can empower American innovation in these markets and build on President Trump’s collaborative approach to making America the crypto capital of the world. Today’s joint agency statement is the latest demonstration of our mutual objective of supporting growth and development in these markets, but it will not be the last.”
— Caroline D. Pham, CFTC Acting Chairman
According to the agencies, the SEC’s Division Of Trading And Markets and the CFTC’s Division Of Market Oversight and Division Of Clearing And Risk are working together to facilitate exchange trading of certain spot crypto asset products. The agencies said the initiative sits within the SEC’s Project Crypto and the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint, and builds on recommendations from the President’s Working Group On Digital Asset Markets report, “Strengthening American Leadership In Digital Financial Technology.”
The statement invites engagement from market participants. The Divisions said they stand ready to discuss questions with firms and to support consideration by their respective Commissions of exchange trading in certain spot crypto asset products.
The statement signals a shared staff interpretation that may open a procedural path for registered venues to list or facilitate trading in spot crypto commodities—rather than limiting exposure to derivatives or fund wrappers. In practice, this could enable regulated market operators to bring price discovery, surveillance and customer protections associated with national securities exchanges and designated contract markets into parts of the spot crypto market that meet commodity criteria.
The joint messaging from the two market regulators reduces uncertainty over supervisory “turf” on products characterised as commodities. It indicates an appetite to align approaches on venue operations, market surveillance and risk management for spot activity, while leaving security-versus-commodity classifications to be addressed on an asset-by-asset basis.
Any venue pursuing such activity would still need to address custody, settlement finality, books-and-records, customer asset segregation and AML/KYC controls within existing SEC and CFTC frameworks. For SEC-registered exchanges, that may involve rule filings and surveillance integrations; for CFTC-regulated markets, it raises questions about how spot functionality is offered alongside futures, options or swaps without creating regulatory gaps.
For brokers, asset managers and proprietary trading firms, a viable route to trade certain spot crypto commodities on registered venues could consolidate liquidity onshore, standardise market data and lower operational risk relative to unregulated venues. For issuers and sponsors, the statement suggests there may be a pathway for compliant spot products, though staff emphasis on “certain” commodities underscores that not all crypto assets would qualify.
This remains a staff-level statement rather than a Commission vote or rulemaking. Any concrete listings or venue changes would be subject to the usual processes—such as SEC Rule 19b-4 filings or CFTC rule certifications—and could be conditioned or declined based on product specifics. The direction of travel, however, is towards greater clarity on what registered exchanges can facilitate in the spot crypto commodity segment.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the joint staff statement marks an effort to bring innovation back to US markets and to expand choice for trading spot crypto assets in a regulated setting.
CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham said the two agencies are seeking to present a unified approach after prior mixed signals, adding that the collaboration aims to support growth and development in digital asset markets in the United States.
During the Biden administration, the SEC under Chair Gary Gensler maintained that most crypto tokens are securities and pursued a series of high-profile enforcement actions, including cases against US crypto exchange Coinbase in June 2023 and Binance a day earlier, alleging unregistered securities offerings and platform operations. In parallel, US derivatives regulator the CFTC asserted jurisdiction over key crypto commodities—reiterating that Bitcoin, and at times Ether, fall under the Commodity Exchange Act—and brought its own action against Binance in March 2023 that later resulted in court-ordered penalties. The overlapping cases and differing characterisations of major tokens created jurisdictional friction and uncertainty for market participants weighing securities-law versus commodities-law obligations.
The joint statement today can be seen as a green light for venues to bring proposals, but it is not a blanket approval. The turf war between the 2 agencies is not over but there is better alignment. The crypto market is still waiting for legislation to define the boundaries of what is going to be acceoptable or not, and which agency, or both, will have oversight.
