CFTC launches Innovation Task Force
The CFTC created an Innovation Task Force to give clearer rules for fintech and algorithmic derivatives products — a sign regulators want to shape, not stifle, new market infrastructure. The move comes as perpetual futures expand across crypto and equities, making futures markets a core venue for AI‑driven trading. (gibsondunn.com) (chaincatcher.com)
Michael J. Passalacqua, a senior adviser to Chairman Michael S. Selig, will lead the Innovation Task Force and previously practised crypto-focused financial regulatory law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, where he worked on industry-wide no-action relief for state‑chartered trust custodians. (cftc.gov)) The unit’s charter specifically targets three verticals—crypto assets and blockchain technologies; artificial intelligence and autonomous systems; and prediction markets and event contracts—which the CFTC said it will address in partnership with the Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee. (cftc.gov)) The new team is slated to coordinate policy development with other federal agencies, including explicit collaboration with the SEC and that agency’s Crypto Task Force, aligning parallel rule‑making tracks across the two market regulators. (cftc.gov)) Market developments pushing regulators’ timelines include recent exchange rollouts of equity‑linked perpetual futures—Coinbase announced stock perpetuals for international users on March 20, 2026, and Binance began launching USDⓈ‑margined equity perpetual contracts in late February–March 2026—while DEX perpetual volumes breached roughly $1.2 trillion per month in 2025 according to market tallies. (cryptotimes.io)) Industry infrastructure is also being rebuilt around automated execution: derivatives venues such as OneBullEx and Perpetuals.com are advertising AI‑native matching and sub‑50µs latency for futures execution, and market‑structure analyses note that perpetuals’ 24/7, funding‑rate mechanics make them a natural fit for continuous, model‑driven strategies. (prnewswire.com)) Chairman Michael S. Selig was sworn in December 22, 2025, and the appointments and task‑force emphasis follow his January senior‑staff hires and public agenda to accelerate regulatory clarity for digital‑asset and derivatives innovators. (cftc.gov))
