CFTC Adds Crypto Heavyweights to Advisory Panel Amid Market Structure Fight

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday named dozens of top crypto executives to its Innovation Advisory Committee, dragging much of the digital asset industry into its advisory orbit as Congress continues to grapple with unresolved issues in US crypto regulation.

The committee includes executives from Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, Ripple, Kraken, Robinhood, CME Group and Nasdaq, among others, in an unusually concentrated display of industry participation for an agency that currently regulates crypto derivatives but not spot trading.

Established last month, the committee aims to provide the regulator with expertise and recommendations on innovation in financial markets.

CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said in a statement on thursday that the panel would help the agency “future-proof its markets” and develop clearer rules as technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence reshape the financial landscape.

“By bringing together participants from all corners of the market, the IAC will be an important asset to the Commission as we work to modernize our rules and regulations for the innovations of today and tomorrow,” Selig said.

It comes as lawmakers in Congress continue to debate the nuances of the CLARITY Act, which seeks to regulate the US crypto market by defining when digital assets fall under securities or commodity oversight.

Specifically, the bill aims to clarify the delineation between the CFTC’s oversight of digital products and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority over security-like tokens.

While that split has largely been accepted across party lines, lawmakers and industry participants remain divided over how the legislation treats stablecoins, particularly whether crypto companies should be allowed to offer yield on dollar-pegged tokens.

It’s an issue that has generated sustained pressure from the banking industry and emerged as the most controversial provision in the bill.

Although those disagreements remain, the CFTC has welcomed the addition of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to its committee.

Weeks before, Armstrong pulled support for the CLARITY Act, citing concerns about banking lobby-driven limits on stablecoin rewards.

The measure complicated the bill’s path in the Senate, with Armstrong arguing that the draft contained “too many problems” including provisions that could restrict tokenized products, restrict DeFi, and limit stablecoin rewards, rather than market structure jurisdiction.

Armstrong also warned that the legislation would erode the CFTC’s authority, arguing that it risked “stifling innovation” by making the agency “subordinate to the SEC.”