U.S. CFTC chief puts staff on notice to create crypto regulations if Clarity Act fails

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael S. Selig has directed agency staff to begin developing crypto market structure rules, preparing the regulator to act if Congress fails to pass the Clarity Act, according to a Decrypt report dated August 20, 2026. Speaking Thursday at the inaugural meeting of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee, Selig said passing bipartisan market structure legislation remains his preferred path, calling it “the most important step towards future-proofing this industry is passing this bipartisan bill.” He warned that if the bill continues to stall, the CFTC will use its existing authority to establish a regulatory framework for crypto markets. Selig also said he had directed staff to engage with developers of on-chain finance protocols to establish legal and compliant ways to offer their protocols in the United States.

Background

The Clarity Act would establish a federal framework for digital assets and clarify the roles of the CFTC and the SEC in overseeing crypto markets, according to the Decrypt report. Selig argued that legislation would make those rules harder for a future administration to reverse. He said passing Clarity is “the surest way that we can prevent another Gary Gensler from running a rogue campaign of lawfare against the individuals and companies in this room today,” referring to the former SEC chair who brought several costly lawsuits against crypto startups. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act. During a press conference with leading crypto executives on Wednesday, Trump also said Selig is working to bring decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid into the United States. Selig said the agency will give Congress more time to pass the Clarity Act before moving forward on its own, and that he will direct CFTC staff to move swiftly to propose the rules for the industry.

What happened

According to Decrypt, CFTC Chair Michael S. Selig spoke Thursday at the inaugural meeting of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee. He said passing bipartisan market structure legislation remains his preferred path, and he called the bipartisan bill “the most important step towards future-proofing this industry.” The Clarity Act would establish a federal framework for digital assets and clarify the CFTC and SEC's roles in overseeing crypto markets. Selig said legislation would make those rules harder for a future administration to reverse, and he invoked former SEC chair Gary Gensler, saying passing Clarity is “the surest way that we can prevent another Gary Gensler from running a rogue campaign of lawfare against the individuals and companies in this room today.” Decrypt reported that on Wednesday, President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act. Selig said that if Congress fails to act, the CFTC is prepared to move ahead on its own, stating: “If Clarity continues to stall because of Democrat obstruction, the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets.” Selig said he has already directed staff to begin exploring what those rules could look like, saying: “To achieve this, I've directed the CFTC staff to begin exploring rules to codify a CFTC market structure for crypto assets using the agency's existing authorities.” Under the framework outlined by Selig, current CFTC registrants and currently unregistered crypto exchanges could come under CFTC oversight and offer leveraged or margined crypto trading under rules tailored to digital asset markets. Selig also directed staff to work with developers of on-chain finance protocols on how they could legally operate in the United States, saying: “I've also directed staff to engage with developers of on-chain finance protocols to establish ways in which developers can offer their protocols in a legal and compliant manner in the United States, future-proofing developer protections once and for all.” Decrypt reported that during the press conference with leading crypto executives on Wednesday, Trump also said Selig is working to bring decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid into the United States. Selig said the agency will give Congress more time to pass the Clarity Act before moving forward on its own, and he said: “Rest assured, I will direct CFTC staff to move swiftly to propose these rules for the industry.”

Market impact

The Decrypt report contains no price, volume, or flow figures for crypto markets. The only numbers in the source are dates: the report is dated August 20, 2026, Selig spoke on Thursday, and Trump's comments and the press conference with leading crypto executives occurred on Wednesday. The source does not quantify how much leveraged or margined crypto trading could move under CFTC oversight, nor does it provide any measure of the size of the on-chain finance protocols or the Hyperliquid exchange. It also does not state how many crypto startups were sued by former SEC chair Gary Gensler, only that he brought several costly lawsuits. Because the source provides no market data, no conclusion can be drawn from it about price reactions, trading volumes, or capital flows following Selig's remarks. Any market impact would have to be assessed from other sources not included here.

Why it matters

The Decrypt report supports several consequences. First, the CFTC under Selig is preparing a fallback regulatory regime for crypto asset markets using existing authorities, which would cover current CFTC registrants and currently unregistered crypto exchanges and allow leveraged or margined crypto trading under rules tailored to digital assets. Second, Selig's directive to staff to engage with developers of on-chain finance protocols could establish ways for those developers to offer their protocols legally and compliantly in the United States, which he described as future-proofing developer protections once and for all. Third, Selig argued that legislation would make rules harder for a future administration to reverse, meaning agency-built rules could be more vulnerable to change. Fourth, the report links the effort to President Trump's Wednesday call for Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act and to Trump's statement that Selig is working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States. The source does not state when the CFTC would propose such rules, only that Selig said he will direct staff to move swiftly and that the agency will give Congress more time first.