CFTC Chair Orders Crypto Rules Drafted If Senate Kills Bill

Rules built on existing authority carry a risk. The next administration could undo them, which is why the industry has pushed for a statute. Selig made that argument himself. Legislation, he said, is the surest way to stop a future SEC chair from repeating Gary Gensler's enforcement campaign against crypto firms.

For exchanges and traders, the practical read is that a CFTC-supervised route to onshore crypto trading is coming either way. Only one version survives a change in the White House.

Selig's remarks landed two days after the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, its first major crypto rulemaking. They came a day after SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said alongside President Donald Trump that getting the bill to the president's desk is the top priority.

The bill's fate rests with the Senate. It has stalled repeatedly and now faces a final three-week window this year. Lawmakers from both parties, mostly Democrats, say their objections to the current draft have not been answered. A key open question is whether the White House will accept a revised ethics provision from Senators Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis.