The CFTC Just Proposed the First Federal Rules for Leveraged Retail Crypto Trading. Here's What Reg CTX and Reg CAM Mean for You.

TL;DR

• On October 5, 2026, the CFTC released an ANPRM on two contemplated rules: Reg CTX (Crypto Asset Transactions — interpreting when leveraged retail crypto transactions fall under CEA Section 2(c)(2)(D)) and Reg CAM (Crypto Asset Markets — a new DCM subcategory for exchanges that list them). It was published in the Federal Register on October 13.
• The jurisdictional hook: once a platform offers retail customers leverage, margin, or financing, the CFTC’s preliminary view is that the offer can attach to every transaction on the platform — and those transactions stay subject to the CEA until “actual delivery,” which for crypto may require the customer to hold the private keys.
• Platforms that offer no leverage are outside Section 2(c)(2)(D). Custodial platforms that offer margin, and products like vaults, are where the questions sit.
• Comments are due December 14, 2026 — the industry’s window to shape the “offer” and “actual delivery” interpretations before a proposed rule.

For years, the question of which federal regulator owns leveraged retail crypto trading has been answered with a shrug and a pointing of fingers. The SEC argued some tokens are securities. The CFTC argued leverage brings anything into commodities territory. Crypto platforms largely operated in the gap, hoping neither would move first.

On October 5, 2026, the CFTC moved first.

The Commission announced Release No. 9307-26, an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on two companion regulatory frameworks: Regulation CTX (Crypto Asset Transactions) and Regulation CAM (Crypto Asset Markets). The ANPRM was published in the Federal Register on October 13, 2026 (91 FR 64811). Together, they’re the CFTC’s first attempt at a purpose-built registration and conduct framework for leveraged retail crypto trading.

This isn’t the final rule. It’s not even a proposed rule yet. But the ANPRM stage is where the definitional choices get made — and the definitional choices here will determine who needs to register, who doesn’t, and what products have to change.

Why the CFTC Has Jurisdiction at All

To understand what Reg CTX does, you need to understand the legal hook it’s working from: CEA Section 2(c)(2)(D), which the Dodd-Frank Act added in 2010 to close the so-called Zelener loophole — leveraged or financed retail commodity trades structured to look like spot sales. The provision applies to transactions “entered into, or offered (even if not entered into), on a leveraged or margined basis, or financed by the offeror,” and it requires them to be treated as if they were futures, on a regulated exchange.

The CFTC first applied Section 2(c)(2)(D) to a crypto exchange in June 2016, when it charged Bitfinex. The key off-ramp is the statutory “actual delivery” exception: the provision doesn’t apply to a contract of sale that “results in actual delivery within 28 days,” or a longer period the Commission sets by rule. Even after actual delivery, the CFTC keeps its anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority.

What’s been missing is a binding rule on what “actual delivery” means for crypto. The CFTC issued interpretive guidance on it in 2020, then withdrew that guidance in December 2025, with then-Acting Chairman Pham calling it “outdated and overly complex.” That leaves the case law, mainly the Ninth Circuit’s 2019 Monex decision, which requires giving the buyer real possession or control, not a book entry in the broker’s chosen depository.

Reg CTX would try to settle that through rulemaking.

What Reg CTX Actually Proposes

The ANPRM doesn’t propose rule text. It sets out the Commission’s preliminary interpretations and asks for comment. Two matter most.

Covered offers. Because the statute reaches transactions offered on a leveraged basis “even if not entered into,” the Commission preliminarily believes a covered offer attaches to every transaction it applies to — including trades a customer then executes fully paid. A covered offer could be made in standard customer documentation like onboarding documents, exchange terms and conditions, or credit and margin documentation, and it could cover all transactions on an exchange, in an account, or in a product class. Financing from a third party can count too if it’s “acting in concert” with the platform — for example, financing the platform arranges, markets, shares revenue on, or runs through its own interface.

Actual delivery. Citing Monex, the Commission notes that actual delivery requires the transfer of a meaningful degree of possession or control, and it preliminarily believes that possession and control of a crypto asset “may require possession of the credentials (e.g., private key(s))” to the wallet or account holding it. For assets with governance or staking rights, it may also require the ability to use those rights directly, without paying an intermediary’s fees. The Commission also preliminarily understands that many onchain trading protocols settle in a way that results in actual delivery, and that actual delivery may occur even where a lien or security interest remains outstanding — for example, a margined onchain purchase subject to liquidation if collateral falls below a threshold.

Put those together and the custodial model is the pressure point. The Commission’s preliminary view is that a fully paid trade on a platform that makes a covered offer remains subject to the CEA while it’s recorded only on the exchange’s internal book entry, before actual delivery. Many retail crypto platforms, especially those with margin products, hold customer assets on exactly that kind of internal ledger.

The 28-day window isn’t new — it’s in the statute. What’s new is the CFTC proposing to pin down, by rule, what counts as delivery for crypto and when an offer of leverage brings a platform’s transactions into scope.

What Reg CAM Creates

If Reg CTX defines the jurisdictional trigger, Reg CAM defines what you do once you’re inside it.

The ANPRM contemplates a new registration category, the crypto asset market or CAM, as a tailored subcategory of Designated Contract Market designation for exchanges that only list these crypto transactions. Exchanges that want to list them alongside other derivatives could stay with full DCM registration instead. Here’s what the CAM framework looks like so far:

• Tailored CAM Core Principles. A CAM would comply with the 23 statutory DCM core principles through a tailored set of regulations, rather than the full DCM rulebook built for professional futures markets.
• Required FCM intermediation. The proposal contemplates that all of these transactions run through a futures commission merchant, under a modified “FCM CTX regime.” That brings Bank Secrecy Act AML, customer identification, and suspicious activity reporting obligations to customer-facing activity.
• Who can extend leverage. Leverage, margin, or financing would only be available through arrangements run by an FCM or by a bank sponsored by an FCM, listed in the CAM’s rulebook. FCM rules would cover customer disclosures, initial and maintenance margin, and liquidation procedures.
• Integrated structures allowed. Because crypto firms usually combine listing, trading, settlement, and custody, the proposal contemplates letting a CAM also register as an FCM and/or clearinghouse (DCO), or affiliate with one — with questions about the conflicts of interest that creates.
• A de minimis exemption. The Commission preliminarily believes trading facilities below de minimis trading volume or leveraged-position thresholds could be exempt from CAM registration, and asks where the threshold should be.

The ANPRM doesn’t propose capital numbers. It asks how FCM net capital rules would apply and whether the retail foreign exchange dealer capital regime could be an alternative.

Who This Hits and How Hard

The firms reading this most carefully should be:

Retail crypto exchanges with margin products. If you offer 2x leverage on BTC, you are the primary target of Reg CTX/CAM. Under the ANPRM’s covered-offer view, the question isn’t just your margin book — it’s every trade on the platform the offer attaches to, and whether those trades result in actual delivery.

Yield, lending, and vault products. The ANPRM asks directly whether giving retail customers access to onchain “vaults” through the same interface where they buy crypto could be a covered offer of leverage or financing. If your product sits there, read the vault and “acting in concert” sections closely.

Stablecoin issuers. The ANPRM notes that a payment stablecoin issued by a permitted issuer under the GENIUS Act is excluded from the CEA’s definition of commodity. Other crypto assets, including tokens that don’t qualify for that exclusion, could be commodities.

Pure spot exchanges with no leverage. If your platform offers no leverage, margin, or financing, Section 2(c)(2)(D) doesn’t reach your transactions. The ANPRM specifically asks whether its “offer” interpretation leaves a commercially viable path for an exchange to choose not to offer these transactions and stay under state regulation.

FCMs, banks, and existing DCMs. Existing DCMs could list these transactions under their current registration. FCMs aren’t carved out — the proposal makes them the required intermediaries, under a modified FCM regime, and banks could extend leverage only when sponsored by an FCM.

The CLARITY Act Connection

One elephant in the room: Congress has been trying to pass crypto market structure legislation for years. The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633), which would divide jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC, passed the House in July 2025. On September 15, 2026, the Senate rejected cloture on the motion to proceed, 49-50, short of the 60 votes needed, leaving the bill without a clear path in this Congress.

The CFTC’s ANPRM doesn’t wait for CLARITY. It works from existing statutory authority under Section 2(c)(2)(D), which has been on the books since 2010. The press release frames it as following the President’s directive to propose a federal crypto market structure using the CFTC’s existing authorities.

That’s a meaningful institutional choice: the rulemaking doesn’t depend on Congress moving. It’s still only an ANPRM, though — a proposed rule, another comment period, and a final rule would all have to follow. If market structure legislation passes later and changes the jurisdictional landscape, the rules would need to be reconciled.

What to Do With the Comment Window

Comments are due December 14, 2026. The Commission asks for comment on all aspects of its preliminary views, plus specific questions, including:

On covered offers: Would the “offer” interpretation leave a commercially viable path for an exchange to not offer these transactions and stay under state regulation? What novel ways of offering leverage in crypto markets — vaults, for example — should count?

On actual delivery: Is the Commission right that many onchain trading protocols result in actual delivery, and that delivery can occur while a lien or security interest is outstanding? What technological properties, like governance rights or staking, should matter?

On CAM exemptions: What de minimis threshold should exempt a trading facility from CAM registration?

On capital: How would FCM net capital rules apply, and is the retail foreign exchange dealer capital regime a viable alternative?

On conflicts: What conflicts of interest arise when an FCM extends leverage, sponsors other leverage providers, liquidates positions, and makes risk disclosures — and in integrated CAM-FCM-DCO structures?

If your firm is in scope or even near-scope, submit a comment. This is the stage where those interpretations are still preliminary.

For related crypto regulatory developments, see FinCEN’s withdrawal of the unhosted wallet and mixer rules and the stablecoin framework under the GENIUS Act.

So What?

The CFTC has spent years in enforcement mode on leveraged retail crypto, without binding rules that let platforms plan ahead. Reg CTX/CAM is the Commission trying to convert case law and enforcement precedent into a stable regulatory framework.

For compliance teams at crypto platforms, the immediate task isn’t registration — there’s nothing to register for yet. The immediate task is a product-level assessment: for every product you offer, document whether your platform makes an offer of leverage, margin, or financing (including in onboarding documents and terms), which transactions that offer could attach to, and whether the customer ends up with possession and control of the asset or just an entry on your ledger. Products where leverage is offered and assets stay on your internal books are your highest-risk exposures. Document the analysis now, before the proposed rule stage, because once a proposed rule drops, the definitional stakes get higher.

If the proposal’s required FCM intermediation lands, BSA obligations come with it. If your BSA/AML risk assessment predates your crypto product lines, the AML/BSA Risk Assessment Template (Fintech Edition) ships with 32 pre-populated fintech risk factors (including crypto on/off-ramps), a product risk register covering 14 fintech products and services including payment stablecoins, and a board summary dashboard.

The window between ANPRM and proposed rule is where the compliance strategy gets built. That window is now.

Resources used to build this post:

• CFTC Release No. 9307-26: ANPRM on Reg CTX and Reg CAM — CFTC, October 5, 2026
• Federal Register: Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, 91 FR 64811 — October 13, 2026
• CFTC Release No. 9152-25: Acting Chairman Pham Announces Withdrawal of Outdated Digital Assets Guidance — December 11, 2025
• U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote 234: Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to H.R. 3633 — September 15, 2026

Related reading on this site:

• GENIUS Act Implementing Regulations: July 18 Deadline and Stablecoin Compliance
• FinCEN Withdraws Unhosted Wallet and Crypto Mixer Rules
• GENIUS Act and FinCEN CIP Rule: What Stablecoin Issuers Need to Know

For crypto-adjacent fintechs building out their BSA/AML program alongside this regulatory assessment, the AML/BSA Risk Assessment Template (Fintech Edition) gives you inherent-to-residual risk scoring, a customer risk rating methodology, and a 30-control inventory mapped to the five BSA pillars.