CFTC launches crypto and blockchain task force

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission created a new Innovation Task Force on March 24 to write clearer rules for crypto, blockchain and prediction markets. (cftc.gov) Chairman Michael S. Selig said the unit will focus on three areas inside United States derivatives markets: crypto assets and blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and prediction markets and event contracts. (cftc.gov) The agency named the first five staff members on April 10. Michael J. Passalacqua, a senior adviser to Selig, leads the task force, joined by Hank Balaban, Sam Canavos, Mark Fajfar, Eugene Gonzalez IV and Dina Moussa. (cftc.gov) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates derivatives, which are contracts tied to the price or outcome of something else, such as Bitcoin futures or an election market. Blockchain systems can also show up inside that market plumbing as tokenized collateral or other digital-asset infrastructure. (cftc.gov) The new task force arrives after several March moves on crypto. On March 20, agency staff published frequently asked questions on crypto-asset and blockchain activity, including tokenized collateral guidance and a no-action position for digital assets accepted as margin collateral. (cftc.gov) Prediction markets are now part of the same policy push. The agency sought public comment on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on March 12, then sued three states on April 2 to defend what it called its exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets. (cftc.gov) The enforcement side is moving at the same time. On February 25, the agency said two Kalshi-related cases involved alleged misuse of nonpublic information, and it said the commission has full authority to police illegal trading practices on designated contract markets. (cftc.gov) Selig said the task force will coordinate with other federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and that agency’s crypto task force. That gives digital-asset firms another sign that Washington is trying to sort out who writes which rules after years of overlap between securities and commodities oversight. (cftc.gov) For builders, the immediate change is not a new rulebook but a new desk inside the regulator. The task force’s job, as the agency describes it, is to turn a burst of March and April guidance, staffing and litigation into a more formal framework. (cftc.gov)