Trump administration proposes shifting crypto oversight to CFTC

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The incoming Trump administration plans to expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority by granting it oversight of a significant portion of the $3 trillion digital asset market, according to a FOX Business report.

The shift would be part of a broader effort to reduce the SEC’s regulatory power over the digital asset industry under President Biden and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

Recently, Gensler announced that he will step down as SEC Chair on January 20, when Trump takes office.

The CFTC, which currently oversees the $20 trillion US derivatives market, could see its role expand to include the regulation of spot markets for digital assets deemed commodities, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

This expanded role would also cover the trading exchanges for these assets, according to sources with direct knowledge of the Trump team’s plans.

“With adequate funding and under the right leadership, I think the CFTC could hit the ground running to begin regulating digital commodities on day one of Donald Trump’s presidency,” former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo told FOX Business.

Giancarlo is being considered for a new “crypto czar” position in the incoming administration.

He previously supported expanding the CFTC’s authority over spot crypto markets, highlighting the agency’s early engagement with digital assets when it deemed Bitcoin a commodity in 2015.

The move would provide regulatory clarity for companies and individuals trading the two largest crypto assets by market cap, as no regulatory body currently has clear jurisdiction over spot market transactions.

The CFTC’s current operating budget of $400 million is more than five times smaller than the SEC’s $2.4 billion, and it employs around 700 staff compared to the SEC’s 5,300.

Biden’s outgoing CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam noted that approximately 50% of the agency’s enforcement actions this year targeted crypto businesses, despite having no mandate to regulate the industry.

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