The CFTC Starts Writing Its Own Crypto Rulebook
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig announced that the agency is moving forward with its first regulatory plan for the crypto market. He said the framework will reflect the differences between digital assets and traditional commodities.
The move follows a stalled legislative effort. The CLARITY Act, which was meant to define federal oversight of digital assets, lost momentum in the Senate. In August, Selig directed CFTC staff to explore rules under the agency's existing authority. He suggested a new category of market built specifically for crypto assets, which could allow both registered and unregistered exchanges to offer leveraged trading under CFTC oversight.
Details are still limited. Reports indicate the proposal has gone to the White House for review, and no full regulatory text has been published. Before anything becomes binding, it must clear further review, a public comment period and additional votes by the Commission.
OKX and ICE Seek a 24/7 Market for Tokenized Stocks
On the securities side, OKXICE, a 50-50 joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, notified the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 4 that it plans to launch a Tokenized Securities Venue. The notice relies on the SEC's new Innovation Exemption, introduced in September.
The initial list covers 63 US-listed companies, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and JPMorgan Chase. Trading would run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using permissioned liquidity pools on OKX's X Layer network. Each tokenized stock would be paired with a stablecoin such as USDC or USDT.
Investor protections are central to the design. Tokenized shares must carry the same rights as the underlying share class, with one real share backing each token. Issuers also get an opportunity to object. Access is limited to approved participants.
The deal builds on ICE's March investment in OKX at a $25 billion valuation. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a co-chair of the venture, described the filing as a step toward a truly global, around-the-clock Wall Street.
What This Means for the US Crypto Market
The two developments work on different layers of the same problem. The CFTC is trying to define who may operate crypto trading venues and under what conditions. OKXICE is testing how far traditional market infrastructure can move onto blockchain rails within existing securities law.
Neither step is final. A notice is not an approval, and a rulemaking that is still under review is not yet a rule. The CFTC proposal needs public comment, and OKXICE must satisfy the conditions of the SEC exemption before it can operate. Investors and builders should watch both timelines closely.
Bottom Line
American crypto policy is shifting from enforcement-led uncertainty toward agency-by-agency rulemaking, while Wall Street incumbents are entering the market through regulated channels. If both efforts succeed, US traders could eventually see clearer exchange rules and tokenized equities available at any hour. The next few months of comment periods and regulatory decisions will show how quickly that happens.
