Former CFTC Chair Says Crypto Regulation Already Within Reach

Pham: CFTC authority already covers crypto

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chair Caroline Pham said the agency's legal authority is broad enough to regulate almost all crypto activity without new legislation from Congress. She made the comments in an interview with The Block at Token2049 Singapore, where she is now the chief legal officer and chief administrative officer at MoonPay, a payment processor.

Pham pointed to the way the Commodity Exchange Act is drafted, saying nearly everything qualifies as a commodity except onions and movie box office receipts. She argued the framework was built to be flexible and principles-based, and cited emerging AI compute markets as an example of new commodity types the agency was designed to handle.

Three things Pham said about CFTC and crypto

• The CFTC's current rulemaking proposals, including a recent advanced notice on Regulation CAM and Regulation CTX, are a continuation of the Crypto Sprint initiative she launched in 2025, which opened the first-ever spot crypto trading on CFTC-registered exchanges.
• She described the proposals as "absolutely the kind of protection" needed for U.S. retail crypto traders, calling a strongly regulated exchange preferable to a patchwork of state laws.
• She said tokenized deposits will be more practical than stablecoins for wholesale markets, because atomic settlement of a single trading day would require roughly $15 trillion in cash that does not exist. Banks currently use net settlement, where counterparties offset obligations and exchange only the remaining amounts.

What Pham said about tokenized stocks and NFTs

Pham expects the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to list tokenized shares of real companies and begin seeing meaningful trading volume within two years. She referenced the SEC's innovation exemption as a pathway for listed stocks to appear on tokenized securities platforms within an SEC regulatory framework. She also pointed to Nasdaq's Payward partnership and NYSE parent ICE's OKX partnership as examples of traditional finance converging with crypto technology.

She distinguished these instruments from synthetic tokens that issuers have not approved, noting that real securities involve voting rights and shareholder governance. AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron has publicly objected to such synthetic tokens.

On NFTs, Pham said she expects a second wave once regulatory clarity improves. She framed them as customer engagement tools rather than securities, comparing them to existing loyalty programs like Starbucks points or airline miles. She said prior U.S. enforcement during the last administration had chilled activity that was not equivalent to equity ownership.

Where Pham's comments sit in the broader picture

The Clarity Act, which would have established a federal framework for crypto in the U.S., failed to pass Congress last month. Many industry figures have since shifted attention to agency rulemaking, though some continue to push for formal legislation. Pham's view that the CFTC's existing authority is sufficient reflects the broader push toward agency-led regulation.

The CFTC, under Chairman Michael Selig, has been actively issuing proposed rulemakings for the crypto sector. Its most recent proposal would create a federal framework for leveraged retail crypto transactions as an alternative to state licenses. That proposal builds on a 2010 Dodd-Frank provision requiring leveraged retail commodity transactions to occur on regulated exchanges, a requirement the CFTC did not enforce for years.

Pham's position is an opinion based on her experience at the agency, not an official CFTC statement. The CFTC's current direction depends on the current leadership's actions and congressional oversight.

Sources

• The Block — Former Acting Chair Caroline Pham says CFTC can regulate almost everything except 'onions and box office receipts'