U.S. CFTC’s ‘crypto sprint’ responds to key directives, collaboration with SEC urged

In connection with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Aug. 1 announcement of its “crypto sprint” initiative, Cointelegraph outlined two specific recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets directed solely at the agency, out of a broader set of 18. The first calls on the CFTC to provide guidance on how digital assets may qualify as commodities, how its registration requirements apply to decentralized finance (DeFi) and what crypto-related activities are permitted for entities under its oversight. The second recommends the agency consider amending existing rules to better accommodate blockchain-based derivatives. The remaining 16 recommendations involve coordination with other regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Treasury Department. Among those, the CFTC and SEC were encouraged to collaborate on creating a joint rulemaking framework, launch a regulatory sandbox and eventually consider how registrants could provide multiple services within a unified platform.