PANews reported on November 10th that, according to The Block, Acting Chair Caroline Pham of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) confirmed that the agency is in direct talks with regulated exchanges about spot cryptocurrency trading products with leverage, which could launch as early as next month. Pham has already met with designated contract market exchanges regulated by the CFTC, including CME, Cboe Futures Exchange, and ICE Futures, as well as Coinbase Derivatives, Kalshi, and Polymarket US, to discuss launching spot cryptocurrency trading products involving margin, leverage, and funding.
Instead of waiting for congressional action to explicitly grant the CFTC regulatory authority over the spot crypto market, Pham utilized existing provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, which requires retail commodity trading involving leverage, margin, or financing to be conducted on regulated exchanges. Trump has nominated SEC official Mike Selig to replace Pham, but due to the government shutdown, it is unclear when Selig will receive Senate confirmation. Pham is expected to join MoonPay after being replaced.


