CFTC Rulemaking and Regulatory Relief Fuel Bitcoin Surge Past $81,000
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has submitted a new rulemaking titled 'Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets' to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on September 17, 2026.
The filing carries the code RIN 3038-AF80 and is currently at the earliest prerule stage. It is marked as not economically significant and tied to existing Dodd-Frank authority.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the agency was 'locked in and ready to ship rules' after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on a 49-50 vote. The commission chose to act under authority it already holds, with post-CLARITY Act CFTC rules aiming to clarify leveraged crypto trading.
The core focus of the rulemaking is on retail crypto transactions that involve leverage, margin, or financing, and when those can be offered outside a formal exchange under the 'actual delivery' exception. Key goals include setting clearer requirements for designated contract markets offering leveraged crypto products, exploring a tailored registration category for platforms handling retail leveraged crypto trading, building on the earlier joint token taxonomy, and extending recent no-action relief to passive software providers.