CFTC files crypto asset rulemaking for White House review without Congress

The CFTC filed its crypto asset rulemaking with OIRA for White House review. The filing occurred on Thursday. OIRA is a division of the Office of Management and Budget that reviews federal regulations before publication. The proposed rules are titled "Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets." The CFTC declined to comment on the proposal's details. The filing followed the Clarity Act's failure in a Senate procedural vote on Tuesday. The bill would have comprehensively regulated the digital asset industry at the federal level for the first time. Key Democratic negotiators cited ethics concerns as their main reason for opposing the bill. Trump's crypto wealth is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. The wealth is tied to World Liberty Financial and his memecoin. Trump's sons run World Liberty Financial. The Securities and Exchange Commission released an "innovation exemption" on Thursday for onchain trading of tokenized stocks. The CFTC issued a "no-action position" for software developers on Thursday. The position said the agency would not recommend enforcement action against developers that did not register as introducing brokers if certain conditions were met. CFTC Chair Michael Selig previously said he would use the agency's existing authorities to establish a regime for crypto asset markets if the Clarity Act stalled. Selig said in August that he directed staff to examine ways developers could offer protocols. Selig also said the CFTC was examining rules to codify a market structure for crypto assets under its existing authorities. Selig said the approach could allow current registrants and non-registrant crypto exchanges to receive a CFTC designation as a crypto asset market. He said those exchanges could offer leveraged or margined crypto asset trading under purpose-fit rules and CFTC oversight.