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CFTC's ‘Crypto Sprint’ Launches 2nd Phase, Seeks New Input
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CFTC’s ‘Crypto Sprint’ Launches 2nd Phase, Seeks New Input

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced the next phase of the agency’s “Crypto Sprint” initiative, which aims to examine and implement recommendations from the White House.

CFTC Launches New “Crypto Sprint” Phase

On Thursday, CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham announced that the agency would begin the next phase of its initiative to advance President Donald Trump’s vision and is seeking the public’s feedback on the recommendations in the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report.

Pham announces second phase of CFTC’s “Crypto Sprint”. Source: Caroline Pham on X

Pham highlighted that the Trump administration has “made it clear that enabling immediate trading of digital assets at the Federal level is a top priority,” adding, “The Trump Administration has ushered in a new dawn for crypto, and it’s up to market participants to seize this opportunity to be a part of the Golden Age of innovation.”

The agency has initiated stakeholder engagement and invited all interested parties to submit feedback and suggestions on all recommendations for the CFTC in the White House’s recent digital assets report by October 20, 2025.

“The public feedback will assist the CFTC in carefully considering relevant issues for leveraged, margined or financed retail trading on a CFTC-registered exchange as we implement the President’s directive,” Pham stated.

As reported by Bitcoinist, the CFTC unveiled its “Crypto Sprint” on August 1, which started with a spot crypto trading initiative. Following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) launch of its “Project Crypto,” Pham revealed that the agency would work closely with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce to provide regulatory clarity and foster innovation in the digital assets market.

“I am pleased with the many thoughtful letters from stakeholders in support of the CFTC’s listed spot crypto trading initiative, which, in coordination with the SEC’s Project Crypto, answers President Trump’s call to action for American leadership,” said the CFTC acting chair on Thursday.

Chaos In The Regulatory Agency?

The CFTC’s initiative comes amid rumors of chaos in the regulatory agency. On Friday, Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, affirmed that “turmoil continues as the agency’s responsibilities, and the potential market risks, are multiplying.”

According to the report, enforcement has significantly slowed, and the commissioner’s shortage has allegedly made it difficult to carry out critical agency business. “The CFTC’s curtailment coincides with a looming expansion of the agency’s responsibilities,” Bloomberg noted, as the highly anticipated market structure bill is expected to shift most of the crypto market oversight to the CFTC.

A White House spokesperson denied that the agency is in disarray, telling the news media outlet that “President Trump has made it a priority to make America the crypto capital of the world, and in doing so has called for the revitalization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to play a larger role in securing this promise. Acting Chairman Caroline Pham has done a good job beginning this effort, and the Trump Administration is thankful for her leadership and dedicated public service.”

Meanwhile, the agency also remains in a leadership limbo after the US Senate Agriculture Committee delayed the vote on President Trump’s nominee for CFTC chairman, Brian Quintenz, days before the August recess.

The committee reportedly delayed the vote following a request from the White House. Notably, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini exchange co-founders, allegedly pressed President Trump in July to reconsider his CFTC nominee, arguing that Quintenz wouldn’t “shake up the CFTC enough” and is not “aligned with Trump’s agenda.”

Earlier this week, a group of crypto organizations sent a letter to the US President in support of Quintenz, arguing that installing a permanent chairman is “absolutely critical” to realize the agency’s goals.

“Mr. Quintenz possesses a singular capacity to advance sound and clear regulation that will foster responsible growth and innovation. He is, quite simply, the right person at the right time to lead the CFTC,” the letter concluded.

Bitcoin (BTC) trades at $115,195 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.



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Gemini Slams CFTC’s 7-Year Lawfare Campaign In New Letter

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Gemini has accused the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) staff of waging a “trophy-hunting lawfare” campaign based on “fabricated” statements and unfairly weaponizing the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) against the crypto exchange for over seven years.

Gemini Slams DOE Staff Conduct

Last week, Gemini Trust sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Inspector General, Christopher Skinner, to raise multiple concerns and complaints about the agency’s Division of Enforcement (DOE) conduct against the crypto exchange over the past seven years.

The June 13 letter accuses the DOE staff of “selectively and unfairly” weaponizing the Commodity Exchange Act to “bring dubious false statements charges against Gemini Trust” and “taking a series of legal positions that are contrary to basic principles of due process and good governance.”

Gemini’s letter to Inspector General Skinner. Source: Eleanor Terret on X

In 2022, the CFTC sued Gemini, claiming that the exchange issued “false and misleading statements” regarding its actions to prevent market manipulation in Bitcoin (BTC) prices in 2017.  The complaint alleged that the crypto exchange gave deceiving information to the CFTC as it evaluated a possible self-certification for a BTC futures contract.

In January 2025, Gemini Trust agreed to pay $5 million to the CFTC to resolve the allegations. However, it claims in Friday’s letter that it didn’t settle because it had done anything wrong, but rather “because it had no other choice” at the time.

According to Gemini, the agency’s staff conduct over the past seven years shows that its “trophy-hunting lawfare” was not motivated by a desire to protect the commodities markets. Instead, it was allegedly driven by the DOE personnel’s “selfish desire to advance their careers by misusing their offices to obtain a high-profile ‘win.’”

Additionally, the company argues that the DOE ignored the fact that Gemini Trust was “the victim of fraudulent activity by multiple bad actors” or that the claims originated from a “lie-riddled whistleblower submission by a discredited former employee,” former CPO Benjamin Small, who reportedly embarked on a “vindictive campaign” after he was fired.

Based on this, the letter claims that the DOE Staff consistently abused their office and willingly burned millions of dollars of taxpayer money to sue an “innocent party” and “pursue fabricated and manufactured claims against Gemini Trust.”

CFTC To Restore Regulatory Clarity

The crypto exchange also claimed that “there is something deeply wrong with the DOE and its culture,” adding that it is well known that the division is “out of control” with a “toxic” philosophy.

They consider that the public statements and remarks from CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham have shown how the DOE “has lost its way.” Recently, she criticized the previous administration’s “regulation by enforcement” approach, affirming that the agency is working to restore regulatory clarity.

As reported by Bitcoinist, Pham slammed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC’s previous reinterpretation of existing laws to persecute what they perceived as “bad” or “evil” sectors, like crypto and blockchain technology.

The agency’s acting chair claimed that the CFTC will no longer “twist the law to criminalize an asset class or a technology,” focusing instead on its “core mission” to catch bad actors and prevent fraud, manipulation, and scammers in the market.

However, she clarified that regulations won’t be easy on the crypto industry, or anybody, despite the agency’s new pro-innovation approach. As such, “restoring the well-settled legal precedents, how the CFTC has applied and interpreted the law for decades,” has been a priority under her leadership.

Gemini Trust concluded in the letter that the CFTC’s transformation “will require serious introspection and long-term commitment from the agency as a whole to ensure that this bad-faith behavior never happens again,” and offered to “assist the Commission and Inspector General in whatever capacity they would deem helpful.”

Bitcoin trades at $105,048 in the one-week chart. Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.



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How the Crypto Industry Is Responding to the CFTC’s Call on Perpetuals

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In brief

  • Industry leaders are arguing perpetuals eliminate the costly contract rollovers that plague traditional futures.
  • Some are advocating for DeFi inclusion by forming a special advisory committee focused on decentralized trading.
  • More than 90% of crypto derivatives trading volume consists of perpetual contracts occurring outside U.S. borders.

Major crypto companies are urging regulators to embrace crypto perpetual futures contracts, arguing the financial instruments could revolutionize derivatives trading if properly regulated in the U.S.

In 1992, American economist and Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller proposed perpetual futures to enable trading of illiquid assets like real estate and human capital.

These contracts had no expiration and paid out based on price indices, settling daily between long and short holders. 

Initially theoretical, the concept has gained practical application in crypto. They now account for 93% of all derivatives trading in crypto, according to some estimates.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is now trying to assess whether its current rules are sufficient to oversee perpetual derivatives or if new regulation is required to manage their risks, particularly in light of their explosive growth in crypto markets and potential future application in traditional asset classes.

In response to the CFTC’s April request for comment, industry leaders, including Coinbase, OKX, Paradigm, and Hyperliquid, have outlined how perpetuals have become the dominant form of crypto derivatives.

Crypto firms are conveying a clear message to the CFTC: perpetuals are crypto’s most successful financial innovation, and appropriate U.S. regulation could tap into a multi-trillion-dollar market that’s been flourishing offshore.

Power and simplicity

“Bringing offshore crypto derivatives markets into the U.S. regulatory perimeter would be a boon for U.S. markets and customers,” Coinbase Derivatives wrote. The exchange noted perpetuals comprise “upwards of 90%” of crypto futures volume, surpassing even spot trading volumes.

The “simplicity” of perpetual futures makes it more accessible to retail participants, enabling them to gain leveraged exposure “without the complications inherent in traditional futures products or spot crypto,” it added.

Research-driven crypto investment firm Paradigm, meanwhile, has urged the Commission to embrace decentralized trading protocols rather than limiting perpetuals to traditional exchanges.

“While perpetual contracts listed on registered entities are important, they are only the first and shallowest part of the pool that is perpetual contracts,” Paradigm wrote last week.

Paradigm is also proposing the creation of a perpetual special advisory committee to examine DeFi perpetuals in hopes of leveraging “the power of smart contracts and blockchain technology” to “catalyze the transformation of our broader financial markets.”

Transparency through tech

Hyperliquid Labs, the core development team contributing to Hyperliquid, a custom Layer-1 blockchain, meanwhile, has outlined three core benefits of decentralized perpetuals.

First, transparency reaches unprecedented levels when every user action, including order placement, cancellation, execution, and liquidation, is “immutably recorded” and “publicly auditable,” contrasting sharply with traditional systems where trade data remains proprietary.

Hyperliquid Labs suggests the CFTC examine how open architecture on blockchains promotes composability, allowing different protocols to interact and build together.

Composability encourages participants and developers to build a “wide array of applications and strategies to foster product and market innovation” and unlock new use cases, it added.

Hyperliquid Labs promoted self-custody, saying it allows traders to manage collateral in their wallets, reducing reliance on exchanges. This approach helps avoid risks and addresses concerns of “centralized intermediary failures, hacks, or fund mismanagement.”

OKX, meanwhile, is touting perpetuals’ liquidity advantages, noting how they help consolidate trading volume that traditional futures fragment across multiple expiration dates.

“The lack of multiple expiry periods means perpetual futures can attract greater liquidity than traditional futures, particularly for far-dated expiries,” OKX wrote, adding that perpetuals appeal to “options traders looking to hedge their exposure,” as well as to “basis traders that are seeking arbitrage opportunities between exchanges.”

The crypto firms’ comments come as the CFTC has signaled its intent to have crypto perpetuals “trading live very soon,” according to outgoing CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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