From Rivalry to Collaboration: SEC and CFTC Unify Crypto Regulations

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold their first joint roundtable in nearly 14 years on September 29, 2025, at the SEC's Washington, D.C., headquarters. The event, announced in late September 2025, aims to address regulatory harmonization between the two agencies, a priority highlighted in the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report. The roundtable will feature senior officials, industry leaders, and commissioners, including SEC Chair Paul Atkins, CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham, and figures from major exchanges such as CME Group, Nasdaq, and crypto platforms like Kraken and Kalshi SEC Announces Agenda, Panelists for SEC-CFTC Roundtable on Regulatory Harmonization Efforts^[1].

The joint effort follows a September 5, 2025, statement by Atkins and Pham, which emphasized the need to align regulatory frameworks to foster innovation in digital assets while maintaining investor protections. The agencies cited the convergence of securities and commodity derivatives markets as a catalyst for collaboration, noting that fragmented oversight had previously stifled economic activity. The statement outlined priorities such as expanding trading hours, clarifying rules for prediction markets and perpetual contracts, and streamlining capital and margin requirements Joint Statement from the Chairman of the SEC and Acting Chair of the CFTC^[3].

The roundtable's agenda includes three panels. The first, moderated by former CFTC Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo, will explore the historical relationship between the SEC and CFTC. Subsequent panels will focus on how harmonization could unlock economic value for trading platforms and increase market choice for participants. Panelists include executives from Cboe Global Markets, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Citadel, as well as crypto industry representatives like Adena Friedman of Nasdaq and Tarek Mansour of Kalshi SEC Announces Agenda, Panelists for SEC-CFTC Roundtable on Regulatory Harmonization Efforts^[1]. The event will also feature remarks from SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda and closing statements from Commissioner Hester Peirce SEC Announces Agenda, Panelists for SEC-CFTC Roundtable on Regulatory Harmonization Efforts^[1].

A key driver of the roundtable is the agencies' joint statement on spot crypto asset products, issued on September 2, 2025. The statement clarified that SEC- and CFTC-regulated exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating leveraged or margined retail commodity transactions on digital assets. This aligns with broader initiatives-Project Crypto by the SEC and Crypto Sprint by the CFTC-to modernize regulations and position the U.S. as a leader in crypto innovation. The agencies also reaffirmed the availability of the CFTC's foreign board of trade (FBOT) framework, which allows non-U.S. exchanges to provide U.S. market access SEC and CFTC Announce Harmonization Initiative and New Crypto Developments^[4].

The roundtable reflects a strategic pivot toward collaboration after years of overlapping jurisdictional debates. For instance, the CFTC has historically regulated Bitcoin and Ethereum as commodities, while the SEC has focused on securities-related tokens. Recent enforcement actions, such as the CFTC's settlement with Uniswap Labs and the SEC's lawsuits against Ripple and BlockFi, highlight the challenges of defining digital assets under existing laws. The joint statement and upcoming roundtable aim to reduce ambiguity by harmonizing product definitions, data standards, and innovation exemptions .

Industry participants view the event as a potential catalyst for market efficiency and cross-border compliance. For example, the agencies' proposal to harmonize portfolio margining frameworks could reduce capital inefficiencies by allowing broker-dealers to net exposures across SEC- and CFTC-regulated platforms. Similarly, clarifying rules for perpetual contracts-derivatives without defined expiry dates-could bring offshore activity onshore, aligning U.S. markets with global trends Joint Statement from the Chairman of the SEC and Acting Chair of the CFTC^[3]. The roundtable also addresses decentralized finance (DeFi), with both agencies indicating openness to "innovation exemptions" that allow peer-to-peer trading on DeFi protocols Joint Statement from the Chairman of the SEC and Acting Chair of the CFTC^[3].

The agencies' Spring 2025 regulatory agendas further underscore their commitment to modernization. The SEC plans rulemakings on digital asset custody, transfer agent rules, and alternative trading systems, while the CFTC will revisit its "Concept Release on the Appropriate Regulatory Treatment of Event Contracts." These efforts, alongside the roundtable, signal a shift from enforcement-driven approaches to proactive regulatory alignment SEC and CFTC Announce Harmonization Initiative and New Crypto Developments^[4].