On Monday, the CFTC published two Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRMs) to inform the public of the federal agency’s aim to provide a regulatory framework for leveraged crypto transactions and the companies that facilitate those trades. Appearing in a roundtable segment on CNBC’s Squawk Box Tuesday morning, CFTC Chairman Mike Selig relayed his disappointment that Congress was unable to pass the Clarity Act in recent months, in spite of an all-out media blitz initiated by the bill’s advocates.
“I am absolutely disappointed in Congress in not getting this bill to the president’s desk,” Selig told CNBC Squawk Box’s hosts. “It’s been a priority since Day 1. We’ve worked really hard to get here, but we’ve got statutory authority and we’re going to use it.”
Citing the November 2022 collapse of FTX, the chairman also criticized state-licensure laws that do not mandate “market-based regulations,” such as AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and forced segregation of customer assets, for exchanges.
Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM are two separate sets of rules proposed by the CFTC. Respectively, they would govern leveraged (also known as “margin”) trading of cryptocurrency assets and the financial institutions that host such trades.
The two proposals are combined into a single 108-page document that can be downloaded directly from the CFTC’s official web portal.
DOWNLOAD & READ: Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM (CFTC — October 5th, 2026, PDF file)
The proposed rules for crypto-asset margin trading (CTX) are contained within the first 66 pages, while the proposed guidelines for exchanges (CAM) begin on page 67.
Specifically, the recent ANPRMs leave out crypto trading activity that does not involve margin, leverage, or financing. Those trades will remain under a patchwork of state-sponsored money transmitter laws. According to Reuters, the CFTC’s new rules, if approved as currently written, “would effectively allow US crypto exchanges to opt into a federal regulatory framework” for crypto-based margin trading.
Prediction market event contracts offered on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket could eventually fall under the regulatory purview of both CTX and CAM. The trigger for compliance requirements would be if or when a CFTC-regulated exchange begins offering leveraged options for contracts that are based in cryptocurrency denominations.
For now, all CFTC-regulated exchanges operate on fiat rails, meaning that account balances and settlements are processed exclusively through traditional banking mechanisms. By contrast, the Polymarket international exchange (which is not regulated by the CFTC) runs on the Polygon blockchain that uses the USDC stablecoin for settlements.
The CFTC is taking a two-pronged approach to safeguarding its “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets, including sports, political, and culture-oriented event contracts.
The first part will involve an Interim Final Rule (RIN 3038-AF81) that explicitly prohibits “casino-style products” from making their way to prediction markets. Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, it will become effective immediately.
The second part (RIN 3038-AF82) relates to a “further definition of ‘swap’ to include event contracts.” It will include a required “public comment” window that could push a finalized version of the proposed rules to early 2027.
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