SEC And CFTC Discussing Crypto Collaboration

Recent reports allege that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are in talks to collaborate on crypto regulations amid their new approach shift under Trump’s industry-friendly administration.

SEC And CFTC Discuss Collaboration

On Wednesday night, FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terret revealed that the US SEC and CFTC are discussing their options for effectively collaborating on crypto regulations as a clear framework for digital assets becomes “a top priority” for the agencies.

According to Terret, the regulatory agencies are considering reinstating the chart for the CFTC-SEC joint advisory committee, which has been inactive for over a decade. The CFTC-SEC Joint Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues was established in 2010 by the CFTC and SEC chairs, Gary Gensler and Mary Schapiro.

The joint committee aimed to develop recommendations on ongoing issues related to both agencies, including emerging regulatory risks, their implications for investors and market participants, and the agencies’ efforts in regulatory coordination.

CFTC’s description of the inactive joint advisory group. Source: Eleanor Terret on X

In November 2024, CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham called to revive the joint advisory committee, suggesting it would signal the new collaborative approach to regulating the crypto industry.

I am looking forward to the future, and I hope that next year, both the CFTC and SEC will act to reinstate the charter for the CFTC-SEC Joint Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues, which has been dormant for the past decade. It would be a strong signal of a new U.S. regulatory approach that is collaborative and cooperative.

US Agencies’ Crypto Regulatory Efforts

The potential revival of the joint advisory committee follows the ongoing changes in the US regulatory agencies. After Gary Gensler departed the SEC, the agency’s acting chair, Mark Uyeda, created the Crypto Task Force.

The task force, led by industry-friendly Commissioner Hester Peirce, was established to review the agency’s approach to dealing with digital assets and create a “comprehensive and clear” regulatory framework. Additionally, it is expected to take a “more enjoyable and less risky” approach than the one from the Commission in the last decade.

Commissioner Peirce recently told Bloomberg Crypto that the regulatory agency is “trying to get back to a path where we’re really using our other tools to make policy” after years of using enforcement cases as “a way to make regulatory policy.”

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump recently nominated pro-crypto Brian Quintenz to lead the CFTC. Quintez was a CFTC Commissioner during Trump’s first administration and is the current Head of Policy at Andreessen Horowitz (ai16z)’s crypto division.

In an X post, he stated, “The CFTC plays a critical role in maintaining robust hedging and price discovery markets that are the envy of the globe.” And suggested that the agency is “well poised to ensure the USA leads the world in blockchain technology and innovation.”

Several industry figures, including Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Strategy’s Chairman Michael Saylor, shared excitement about the nomination. Meanwhile, Commissioner Peirce congratulated Quintez, adding that she’s “Looking forward to more SEC-CFTC cooperation. Last time it was Dodd-Frank Title VII. This time crypto.”