SEC and CFTC maintain first joint roundtable in the past 14 years

The SEC and CFTC held their first joint roundtable in nearly 14 years to address encryption regulations and explore greater collaboration.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) held their first joint roundtable in nearly 14 years.

The discussion highlighted that despite no history of cooperation, the two agencies intend to cooperate in crypto regulations.

Consistency of encryption rules

Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline Pham admitted at a roundtable Monday that while the SEC and CFTC have many opportunities to work together in market participants and global capital markets, unclear regulatory boundaries can sometimes cause friction and difficulties for the public.

Pham said she was pleased that both regulators are now adjusting the rules to reduce unnecessary costs, support responsible innovation and create fair competition. She noted that the SEC’s Project Crypto and CFTC’s crypto sprint are early examples of coordination, suggesting that greater coordination may increase efficiency, clarity and expand investor access to digital assets.

PHAM reported in resolving concerns about the effectiveness of the CFTC that from January 20 to September 3, the agency took 18 non-enforcement actions and 13 enforcement actions, some involving digital asset litigation. Since September 4, the committee has initiated 14 more legal proceedings in just a few weeks.

The performance chair said the numbers suggest that the CFTC is active and effective, adding: “There is no longer a need for more fuds about what is going on on the other side of the town.”

The roundtable also introduces the panel on market structure and innovation and discusses topics such as extended trading hours, permanent contracts, forecast markets and cryptocurrency assets. Participants included executives from major crypto companies such as Kraken, Robinhood and Crypto.com.

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SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said on the sidelines of recent events that cryptocurrencies are the agency’s “current top priority.” He also identified asset tokenization as a key area of ​​regulatory priorities, warning that it could take a year or two to establish proper guardrails and describe its potential as “almost endless.”

Earlier this year, financial regulators conducted discussions on tokenization and encryption regulations amid increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies, with the aim of harmonizing rules.

Tensions rise due to classification of tokenized securities

Elsewhere, the Crypto X community has rekindled debate on how to categorize tagged securities. The dialogue comes after tensions in the recent joint group, with traditional financial representatives boycotting innovation waivers and advocating strict ease rate requirements under Reg NMS.

Crypto lawyer Gabriel Shapiro believes that tokenized securities should indeed be substitutable. In response, former regulatory consultant Justin Slaughter questioned that the tools are essentially derivatives, suggesting that they can represent the underlying asset itself or an idealized version. Shapiro countered that this ambiguity may reflect differentiated token practices through SPV and similar structures, compared to Super Legacy or Metalex (such as Susperstate or Metalex).