The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed a federal framework for cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a report by Investing.com, moving the derivatives regulator toward a formal supervisory regime for trading venues that handle digital assets.

The proposal signals a shift from the case-by-case enforcement posture that has defined U.S. crypto market oversight since the collapse of FTX in November 2022. It also positions the CFTC more directly against the Securities and Exchange Commission in the long-running jurisdictional dispute over which agency governs digital asset trading in the United States.

What does the proposal cover?

The framework, as reported by Investing.com, addresses the operation of crypto exchanges at the federal level. Details of the draft text — including registration thresholds, custody requirements and capital standards — were not specified in the initial report.

The CFTC already holds clear statutory authority over crypto derivatives: futures and options on Bitcoin and Ether trade on CFTC-regulated venues such as CME under a 2014 joint interpretation with the SEC, and the agency has repeatedly characterized Bitcoin and Ether as commodities. What has remained unresolved is federal oversight of the underlying spot markets, where most retail crypto trading occurs.

A federal framework for exchanges would close part of that gap. Under the current structure:

• Spot crypto trading largely falls outside direct CFTC registration requirements, limiting the agency's tools to fraud and manipulation enforcement.
• Exchanges serving U.S. customers frequently incorporate offshore while routing American traffic through separate entities.
• Congressional proposals, including repeated iterations of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, have sought to grant the CFTC expanded spot-market authority without producing final legislation.

Why does agency jurisdiction matter?

The CFTC's proposal arrives amid a broader reordering of U.S. crypto regulation. The SEC under prior leadership pursued registration claims against major exchanges through litigation; the CFTC simultaneously pursued its own enforcement actions against derivatives-related violations by offshore platforms.

A formal exchange framework from the CFTC would give trading venues a compliance path anchored in commodities law rather than securities law. For exchanges, that distinction carries operational consequences: derivatives-style supervision typically emphasizes market integrity, position reporting and system safeguards rather than disclosure-based investor protection regimes.

For institutional participants, a codified federal regime could reduce the legal ambiguity that has kept banks and broker-dealers on the sidelines of crypto market-making and custody. Clear registration categories would also simplify the patchwork of state money-transmitter and trust licenses that venues currently assemble.

What are the open questions?

The report does not indicate whether the proposal would proceed through formal rulemaking under the Commodity Exchange Act or through guidance pending congressional action. The CFTC's rulemaking process requires publication in the Federal Register, a public comment period and commissioner votes — a timeline that typically stretches across months before any rule takes effect.

How the framework delineates tokens that the SEC considers securities also remains unresolved. Dual-jurisdiction assets have been the central friction point in every previous attempt to assign exchange oversight, and neither agency has ceded ground on the classification question.

Market participants will be watching the comment period closely. If the framework advances into formal rulemaking, exchanges serving U.S. customers would face a defined registration pathway for the first time — and the CFTC would enter the spot-market supervisory business that Congress has so far declined to hand it outright.