New CFTC Crypto Rule Takes Lessons From the $8 Billion FTX Fraud

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) opened public comment on Monday for new crypto trading rules that exchanges could choose to join. Chairman Michael Selig cited FTX, whose founders misappropriated about $8 billion in customer funds.

The CFTC regulates futures and other bets on commodity prices. Yet the one FTX unit it oversaw kept customer money safe, while about 130 sister companies went bankrupt.

What the CFTC Wants to Regulate in Crypto Trading

The notice is an early step that asks for public feedback before any rule is written. It covers retail crypto trades made with borrowed money or platform financing.

Federal law already requires such deals to run on a CFTC-regulated exchange. The agency now wants crypto-specific rules, including a new exchange category called a “crypto asset market.”

“Under my leadership, the Commission will take every necessary step to establish regulations that are designed to prevent, rather than only prosecute after the fact, fraudulent schemes such as FTX,” Selig wrote.

Selig’s announcement revisited an old CNBC coverage of FTX’s $32 billion valuation.

The lesson from FTX’s failure should have been obvious. America shouldn’t have to choose between responsible innovation in crypto and protecting market participants from fraud and abuse. It needs prophylactic rules that reasonably ensure both. Today, the @CFTC is taking action to… https://t.co/7vm8o1Wrt6

— Mike Selig (@ChairmanSelig) October 5, 2026

What Exchanges Gain and Give Up by Signing Up

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Selig said the rules would not force crypto onto CFTC platforms. The agency lacks that power without Congress, where the stalled CLARITY Act failed in the Senate.

Selig’s proposition is that:

• Registered exchanges could offer retail traders leverage and margin, which state money transmitter licenses, the kind FTX relied on, do not allow.

In return, under the notice:

• Registered exchanges must keep customer money separate
• Watch for manipulation, and
• Limit conflicts of interest.

Bitnomial said it is the first crypto-native US exchange to hold all three CFTC licenses for this business. It launched leveraged retail spot crypto trading in December 2025.

Kraken parent Payward agreed in April to buy Bitnomial for up to $550 million. It then planned a Hyperliquid route for US clients through Bitnomial, pending approval. Hyperliquid, an offshore trading platform, bars US users.

Comments are due 60 days after the notice appears in the Federal Register. A formal proposal and final vote must follow before any rule binds.