US CFTC to Partner with SEC on Agency’s ‘Project Crypto‘

CFTC Chair Michael Selig and SEC Chair Paul Atkins held a joint agency event on Thursday to discuss harmonization on crypto regulation.

Michael Selig, chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced that the agency would join the efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Project Crypto.

In remarks prepared for an SEC-CFTC discussion on harmonizing the agencies’ approach to digital assets, Selig said that the CFTC would be partnering with the SEC on its Project Crypto, an initiative launched in July to establish clarity on regulations for digital assets. 

According to the CFTC chair, the joint collaboration aims to “advance a clear crypto asset taxonomy, clarify jurisdictional lines, remove duplicative compliance requirements, and reduce regulatory fragmentation.” 

“Fragmented oversight imposes real economic costs—raising barriers to entry, reducing competition, increasing compliance expenses, and encouraging regulatory arbitrage rather than productive investment,” said Selig. “Recognizing this, I intend for the CFTC to work closely with the SEC to identify opportunities to better align regulatory requirements across markets.”

According to Selig, the agency’s objective “is not to blur statutory boundaries, but to reduce unnecessary duplication that does not improve market integrity.”

Selig’s remarks followed the Senate Agriculture Committee voting along party lines on Thursday to advance a digital asset market structure bill, expected to clarify the roles the SEC and CFTC would have in overseeing crypto regulation.

Selig said that both agencies would work to “modernize and harmonize their approach to regulation to future-proof [US] markets for the innovations of tomorrow” amid Congress’ work on the bill.

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