Mike Selig, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced that despite the Senate's defeat of the CLARITY Act, he would press ahead with establishing virtual asset market structure rules using the agency's inherent authority. Chairman Selig plans to re-evaluate the existing regulatory framework to align with the 24/7 on-chain market environment driven by algorithmic and agentic finance. As a key measure, the creation of a new Designated Contract Market (DCM) category is being considered, which would allow exchanges to offer virtual asset leveraged transactions (such as perpetual futures) under CFTC oversight. However, the CFTC's existing authority is limited to derivatives and leveraged transactions, and establishing direct oversight over spot markets still requires legislative action by Congress.
