CFTC Proposes CTX/CAM Frameworks After CLARITY Act Fails
The CFTC's advanced notice of proposed rulemaking would define when leveraged or financed crypto trades are futures and create a tailored exchange registration category, with comments due 14 December 2026.
After Congress failed to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the CFTC issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to bring retail leveraged or financed spot crypto trades within the Commodity Exchange Act via two regimes. Regulation CTX would define a "covered offer" across accounts, exchanges, and product classes, and define actual delivery as transfer of meaningful possession or control — private keys or credentials, not an internal book entry — potentially including unfettered governance participation or staking without intermediary fees. Regulation CAM would create a tailored DCM subcategory for exchanges listing CTXs, with tailored Core Principles; the CFTC preliminarily believes FCM intermediation should be required for all CTXs, though a stand-alone CAM could use separately registered FCMs and DCOs.
For clients this reshapes registration strategy: venues offering leverage or financing, partners who may be treated as acting in concert, and firms relying on non-registration routes now face a concrete federal pathway replacing actual-delivery guidance withdrawn in December 2025. Commenting offers a chance to shape covered offers, eligible leverage providers, position limits, custody, and whether uncleared customer assets fit the commodity broker bankruptcy framework. Prepare comment drafts and registration timelines before the 14 December 2026 deadline, and track the resulting state money transmitter vacuum.