CFTC Risk Watchdog Has its Eye on Crypto

The CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk is going to be watching crypto more closely, a new advisory says

article-image

Maquette.pro/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

In an advisory issued Tuesday, the CFTC alerted all registered firms and applicants that the agency will be keeping a close eye on all new products and services related to cryptocurrencies. 

The CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) has noticed an increase in registrants and applicants looking to get involved in new types of offerings, particularly with digital asset trading and clearing, the advisory said. 

Derivatives clearing organization “registrants and applicants should expect that DCR will be placing emphasis on the potential risks and DCO core principles related to system safeguards, physical settlement procedures, and conflicts of interest,” the advisory noted. 

The DCR is primarily concerned with “heightened” cyber and operational risks, as well as increased potential for conflicts of interest with crypto, the advisory added. Companies are responsible for identifying and evaluating potential dangers associated with all new activities, the regulator said. 

The DCR, which monitors finances and risks for all derivatives clearing organizations, last issued an advisory relating to cryptocurrencies in 2018. The advisory described guidelines for how registered exchanges and clearinghouses can compliantly list crypto assets. 

Tuesday’s advisory comes as lawmakers continue to spar over which regulatory agencies should take the lead in overseeing the digital asset space. 

Some congressional Democrats have pushed for granting the SEC the most power over crypto, as exemplified by a leaked House memo earlier this month. Other Democrats, namely Ritchie Torres from New York, and most Republicans opt for allowing the CFTC to oversee crypto commodity spot markets, including bitcoin and potentially ether, for now.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

USDai is a synthetic dollar fully backed by tokenized three‑month T-bills custodied by M^0. When holders stake USDai in an ERC-4626 vault, they mint sUSDai, which finances short-term, amortizing loans secured by NVIDIA-class GPUs and servers.

article-image

The stablecoin bill now heads to the president’s desk

article-image

The House on Thursday passed the CLARITY Act, a landmark cryptocurrency market structure bill

article-image

Interchain Labs will focus on sovereign L1s and institutional demand, abandoning plans for smart contracts on the Cosmos Hub

article-image

Also, only three tokens have outperformed bitcoin so far this year: XMR, HYPE and SKY

article-image

The fund group has submitted proposals in recent months for other funds that would hold litecoin, solana, XRP, HBAR, Sui and others

article-image

Momentum’s back — BTC leads, risk assets follow