The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has updated its crypto frequently asked questions, confirming that assets already permitted under its rules can be held in tokenized form and that blockchain ledgers can satisfy regulatory recordkeeping duties. The guidance does not approve direct investment of customer funds in Bitcoin or Ether, Ambcrypto reported on September 25, 2026.
The update came from three CFTC divisions — the Market Participants Division, the Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk. Ambcrypto reported that Chairman Michael S. Selig described the staff move as consistent with the agency’s ongoing push for “regulatory clarity for the crypto industry.” The changes were published 18:00 EDT.
Also read: House Tax Committee Advances Crypto Tax Bill 38-5 After CLARITY Act Fails
Key facts
- Assets already permitted under CFTC rules — including U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds and money-market fund shares — can now be held in tokenized form if the token carries the same legal and economic rights as the traditional asset.
- Staff Letter 26-05 did not expand the list of permitted customer-fund investments. Its framework concerns certain crypto assets accepted as margin collateral under specific conditions.
- Tokenized eligible investments must still satisfy the conditions in Regulation 1.25, covering liquidity, concentration limits, maturity, other investment conditions and custody.
- Regulated firms may now use blockchain or distributed ledger technology for recordkeeping, provided records meet existing standards for authenticity, reliability, retention and accessibility.
- Firms remain responsible for producing records during network outages or other disruptions, and the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate on September 15, 2026.
What the CFTC changed
The first question addressed whether customer funds can be placed in tokenized versions of investments already allowed under CFTC rules. Regulation 1.25 governs where futures commission merchants and derivatives clearing organizations may invest that money, and the new guidance lets eligible investments be tokenized without dismantling those limits.
The second question covered recordkeeping. Regulated entities can now maintain on-chain records rather than relying entirely on traditional databases, which reduces the need to keep separate on-chain and off-chain records. However, the records must remain authentic, reliable, retained and accessible, and the firms — not the networks — carry the burden of producing them when systems go down.
Also read: CLARITY Act failure could push US crypto rules to 2027 or beyond — here's what's at stake
What the FAQs do not do is authorize direct customer-fund investment in Bitcoin or Ether. Ambcrypto reported that the agency has not approved crypto as a permitted customer-fund investment, and its framework instead addresses digital assets used as margin collateral. Coinpedia framed the update as the agency moving to write crypto market rules on its own after the CLARITY Act stalled. Coinpedia quoted Selig saying the agencies hold substantial existing statutory authority and that President and agency staff were prepared to act, adding that the CFTC will “continue to ship rules.”
Why it matters
Futures commission merchants and clearing organizations now have a defined path to hold tokenized versions of conservative instruments such as Treasuries and money-market shares inside customer-fund accounts, which could make tokenized collateral easier to use in regulated derivatives markets. The recordkeeping change matters for compliance teams weighing whether blockchain infrastructure can replace or supplement traditional databases. Both changes stay inside limits the agency already enforces rather than opening customer funds to crypto exposure, a distinction that separates this update from market-structure legislation the Senate has not passed. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and Michael Saylor have argued blockchain adoption and industry development will continue without a comprehensive market-structure law, as Ambcrypto noted.
What to watch
Attention now turns to the CFTC’s next rule shipments, which Coinpedia reported Selig has said will continue, and to whether Congress revisits market-structure legislation after the CLARITY Act failed on September 15. Also worth tracking is how regulated firms apply the tokenization conditions in Regulation 1.25 and how the collateral treatment of crypto assets develops under Staff Letter 26-05.
Reported by ambcrypto.com.
Sources: AMBCrypto, Coinpedia
