cftc

According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin's operator Peken Global has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).The CFTC accused KuCoin of illegally allowing U.S. residents to trade as an unregistered offshore platform. KuCoin reached a settlement without admitting or denying the allegations and is prohibited from allowing U.S. customers to access the platform without registering with the CFTC. The CFTC stated that U.S. customers generated approximately $110 million in trading fees for KuCoin, and due to the company's cooperation and the forfeiture in a parallel criminal case, it did not seek to recover illegal gains.

According to The Block, Michael Selig, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, stated that when assessing which prediction market contracts are susceptible to manipulation, the agency will "largely respect the opinions of various sports leagues."Previously, the National Football League (NFL) sent letters to prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, requesting them to stop offering contracts on single game outcomes, drafts, injuries, and other easily manipulated or predetermined contracts, believing that such contracts could incite manipulative behavior.On the legislative front, bipartisan lawmakers have proposed bills aimed at prohibiting federally regulated prediction markets from launching sports-related contracts, and several states have challenged the legality of such platforms through legal means. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball has chosen a collaborative approach, reaching an agreement with Polymarket and signing an information-sharing agreement.

According to Cointelegraph, Michael Selig, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated that bringing "real" cryptocurrency perpetual futures back to the United States is a key component of the agency's innovation policy agenda.

According to market news, U.S. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig stated that U.S. cryptocurrency regulation "will soon welcome a clear framework."

The Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Michael S. Selig, announced the establishment of an Innovation Working Group aimed at developing clear regulatory rules for innovators creating new products and technologies in the U.S. derivatives market.This Innovation Working Group will collaborate with the Innovation Advisory Committee to advance the development of a clear regulatory framework, focusing on three areas: (i) crypto assets and blockchain technology; (ii) artificial intelligence and autonomous systems; and (iii) prediction markets and event contracts.The responsibilities of the working group include advancing the Commission's innovation agenda and collaborating with federal agencies and departments, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its cryptocurrency working group, to promote various innovation initiatives. The working group will be led by the Chairman's Senior Advisor, Michael J. Passalacqua.

According to DeFiprime, the SEC and CFTC jointly released Interpretive Release 33-11412, defining most native tokens of decentralized networks as digital commodities, and clarifying that staking, LSD, wrapped tokens, and compliant airdrops do not constitute securities offerings.Based on this, the article proposes three fundraising and treasury models that have been difficult to implement previously: the first is Liquid Genesis Staking Pools (LGSP), which are based on staking ETH, SOL, etc., and incentivized through both LSD yields and protocol tokens; the second is Commodity Pre-Participation Agreements (CPA), which exchange work contributions and funds for future network participation rights instead of presale tokens; the third is Separation-Accelerated Revenue Rights (SARR), which ties to decentralized milestones and features decreasing profit-sharing, designing the "separation principle" as a tool to drive teams to accelerate decentralization.The author states that all three models are based on existing contract components and can support long-term treasury and team expenditures in simulations.

The guidance document on crypto assets jointly released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been submitted to the Federal Register and is expected to take effect immediately after its official release next Monday, providing market participants with directly actionable regulatory guidance. This document carries the authority of the commission level and will replace the "Framework for 'Investment Contract' Analysis of Digital Assets" released in 2019, guiding the enforcement and regulatory work of the two agencies.This guidance document on crypto assets is built on the Project Crypto initiative launched in 2025 and is seen as a "regulatory bridge for crypto assets." It also provides immediate compliance clarity for entrepreneurs and investors before bipartisan market structure legislation advances in Congress. Its interpretative power and practical impact will guide the behavior of the crypto industry, judicial analysis, and enforcement policies, providing the market with a more stable compliance basis than previous employee-level guidance.

According to market news, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has provided detailed guidance on a pilot program for using crypto assets as collateral. The regulatory agency has notified futures commission merchants (FCMs) that participation in the pilot requires submitting a notice to the market participants division, stating the start date for accepting crypto assets as margin. Key points include:Capital Requirements: Only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins can be accepted as collateral, with BTC/ETH calculated at a 20% capital adequacy ratio and stablecoins at 2%. Futures brokers participating in the pilot can only accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, or stablecoins in the first three months;Compliance and Reporting Obligations: Futures brokers participating in the pilot must promptly report significant cybersecurity or system issues and submit weekly reports on the total amount of crypto assets in customer accounts;Expansion After Three Months: Other crypto assets may be used as collateral after three months, while some reporting requirements will be terminated;Limited Use: Only the remaining rights of dedicated payment stablecoins deposited into customer segregated accounts are allowed; crypto assets cannot be used for uncleared swap collateral, but eligible tokenized assets may be substituted.Derivatives Clearing Organization Requirements: Clearing organizations that meet CFTC credit, market, and liquidity risk requirements may accept crypto assets and stablecoins as initial margin for cleared transactions.

According to Cointelegraph, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated in a prepared speech at the Institute for Legal Practice Research on Thursday that the SEC will adopt a different regulatory approach in the field of digital assets. After signing a memorandum of understanding with the CFTC, the SEC will first focus on clarifying how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets."While this explanation brings the long-needed clarity, I also want to assure everyone that this is just a beginning, not an end." Previous reports indicated that the SEC and CFTC jointly released new regulatory guidelines, clearly stating that most digital assets do not fall under the category of securities, aiming to provide a clearer regulatory framework for the market.

According to Aptos officials, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially recognized APT as a digital commodity, rather than a security.This recognition stems from a joint statement issued by the SEC and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with both regulatory agencies making the above statement with full authoritative explanation.

Mike Selig, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), posted on the X platform in support of the prediction market Kalshi. He stated that the Arizona Attorney General's criminal charges against an exchange already registered with the CFTC related to prediction markets essentially represent a jurisdictional dispute, and elevating it to a criminal lawsuit is "completely inappropriate." The CFTC is closely monitoring the progress of this event and assessing possible responses.Previously, it was reported that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed criminal charges against Kalshi, accusing the prediction market platform of operating an unlicensed gambling business in violation of state law.

According to The Block, the U.S. SEC and CFTC jointly released a 68-page new guideline, clarifying that most cryptocurrencies do not fall under the category of securities.SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated at the Washington Blockchain Summit that this move will provide market participants with clear guidance on how federal securities laws apply to crypto assets. The guidelines detail the classification of stablecoins, digital commodities, and "digital tools," all of which are identified as non-securities, and explain how "non-security crypto assets" can transform into securities, as well as how federal securities laws apply to mining, protocol staking, and airdrops.Digital commodities are defined as assets that are "intrinsically linked to the programmatic operation of functional crypto systems and the dynamics of supply and demand from which they derive value," and digital collectibles are also not considered securities. Atkins remarked, "We are no longer the 'Securities and Everything Commission'," which stands in stark contrast to the previous SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's position of viewing most cryptocurrencies as securities. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig also attended the summit.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Market Participants Division issued a "no-action" letter to the self-custody cryptocurrency wallet software developer Phantom Technologies Inc.The letter addresses the software features that Phantom intends to offer and promote, allowing its users to trade through registered futures commission merchants (FCMs), introducing brokers (IBs), and designated contract markets (DCMs). The CFTC stated that, under certain conditions, the Market Participants Division would not recommend enforcement action against Phantom or its related personnel solely for the aforementioned activities without being registered as an introducing broker or its affiliates.