Key highlights:

  • Mike Selig said the CFTC is ready to act if Congress can't pass crypto legislation this year
  • He directed staff to begin drafting a "crypto asset market" category
  • White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said he is still optimistic on the CLARITY Act

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mike Selig, said Thursday that his agency won't wait around for Congress to move crypto rules along. He promised to build its own crypto rulebook if lawmakers fail to pass the industry's federal framework this year.

CFTC prepares to act without Congress

Speaking at the first meeting of the agency's Innovation Advisory Committee, CFTC Chair Mike Selig said that if the CLARITY Act keeps stalling in the Senate, his agency will use its legal powers to create rules for crypto markets.

He said he has already directed staff to “begin exploring rules to codify a CFTC market structure for crypto assets using the agency’s existing authorities.”

Selig also said employees of the agency are working with software developers to figure out how they could legally offer their crypto protocols to U.S. users.

This comes just as the SEC proposed its own crypto rule this week. However, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said this week that getting the CLARITY Act signed into law is still top priority. Selig agreed, saying passing the bill was the best way to prevent a repeat of the past enforcement approach crypto firms faced under a past SEC leader:

“We’re going to give Clarity its breathing room for a vote, but if the Democrats cannot support a bipartisan work product which reflects compromises from both sides of the aisle and ultimately send a fair version of the bill to the president’s desk, then rest assured, I will direct CFTC staff to move swiftly to propose these rules for the industry.” 

Trump’s crypto advisor sees crypto bill passing in September

The CLARITY Act has stalled at the Senate for months, with the bill missing its deadline for a vote before the August recess. Democrats have said their concerns on the legislation haven't been addressed, particularly on the ethics provision. The next scheduled vote is set for September 15.

Head of the President's Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, Patrick Witt, said he is more confident than ever that the bill would pass. 

"Nothing motivates like a deadline," he said. "The fact that we have the September vote now on the books, I'm confident that those two to three weeks before that vote, there's going to be a lot of breakthroughs that happen or not."

Additionally, he noted that the legislative issues have been whittled down to a handful of parameters. Witt also added that so much political and industry effort has already been invested, and walking away without a result is unlikely. 

He acknowledged that the fight isn't about Republicans against Democrats, noting there are also competing interests among crypto firms and other groups. He also said regulators would implement new rules by September, regardless of how the Senate vote goes. If the CLARITY Act passes, those rules would be adjusted to match the new law.