The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched a digital assets pilot program for certain digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC.
The digital assets can be used as collateral in derivatives markets; guidance on tokenized collateral; and withdrawal of outdated requirements given the enactment of the GENIUS Act.
“Today, I am launching a U.S. digital assets pilot program for tokenized collateral, including bitcoin and ether, in our derivatives markets that establishes clear guardrails to protect customer assets and provides enhanced CFTC monitoring and reporting. The CFTC is also providing regulatory clarity through tokenized collateral guidance for real world assets like U.S. Treasuries and withdrawing CFTC requirements that are now outdated under the GENIUS Act,” Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline Pham said.
Also, the CFTC’s Market Participants Division, Division of Market Oversight, and Division of Clearing and Risk issued new guidance on the use of tokenized assets as collateral in the trading of futures and swaps.
The guidance highlights that CFTC regulations are technology-neutral and encourages the analysis of tokenized assets on an individual basis. The guidance applies to tokenized real world assets, including U.S. Treasury securities and money market funds.
“The CFTC’s decision confirms what the crypto industry has long known: That stablecoins and digital assets can make payments faster, cheaper, and reduce risk,” Paul Grewal, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer, said. “We applaud Acting Chair Caroline Pham and the CFTC for swiftly recognizing that tokenized innovation is the future of finance, and thank Acting Chair Caroline Pham for her leadership and vision.”
MPD also issued a no-action position with respect to certain requirements applicable to Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) that accept non-securities digital assets, including payment stablecoins, as customer margin collateral or hold certain proprietary payment stablecoins in segregated customer accounts.
“Circle applauds Acting Chairman Pham’s breakthrough leadership for derivatives markets and responsible innovation,” Heath Tarbert, president of Circle, said. “Deploying prudentially supervised payment stablecoins across CFTC-regulated markets protects customers, reduces settlement frictions, supports 24/7 risk reduction, and advances U.S. dollar leadership through global regulatory interoperability. Enabling near-real-time margin settlement will also mitigate settlement-failure and liquidity-squeeze risks across evenings, weekends, and holidays.”
Finally, MPD withdrew CFTC Staff Advisory No. 20-34, Accepting Virtual Currencies from Customers into Segregation, effective immediately.
“Today marks an important milestone in the history of the crypto industry—we have been given regulatory certainty for the future,” Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said. “The CFTC guidance on tokenized collateral is the latest example of Acting Chairman Pham delivering on the promise of President Trump to make the United States the ‘crypto capital of the world.’ Acting Chairman Pham should be commended for these leadership efforts. For years, we have been able to offer tokenized collateral in markets other than the United States.”