CFTC chair prepares unilateral crypto rules as Clarity Act stalls

At the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee inaugural meeting on Thursday, Chair Michael Selig directed agency staff to begin drafting crypto market structure rules using the commission's existing authority — a contingency measure he stated plainly: if Congress fails to pass the Clarity Act, the CFTC will move without it.

Selig described the legislation as the preferred path, arguing it would make any regulatory framework durable across administrations. He named former SEC Chair Gary Gensler directly, framing the Clarity Act as protection against what he called "a rogue campaign of lawfare." The unilateral fallback, he said, would cover crypto exchanges, leveraged trading, and on-chain finance protocols.

The announcement followed a White House meeting Wednesday at which President Trump pressed Congress to pass a "fair version" of the Clarity Act alongside Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, and CFTC and SEC chairs. Prediction market companies, earlier reported as likely attendees, were excluded. The administration confined the gathering to crypto.