CFTC permits tokenized versions of approved assets and on-chain records
The US derivatives regulator says assets already allowed under its rules can be held in tokenized form and blockchain ledgers can meet recordkeeping duties, but it has not cleared Bitcoin or Ether for customer funds.
Key points
- Three CFTC divisions issued the update: Market Participants, Market Oversight, and Clearing and Risk
- Tokenized assets must carry the same legal and economic rights as the traditional instrument
- Regulation 1.25 conditions on liquidity, concentration, maturity and custody still apply
- Firms, not networks, must produce records during outages, per Staff Letter 26-05
- The CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate on September 15, 2026
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has updated its crypto frequently asked questions, confirming that assets already permitted under its rules can be held in tokenized form and that blockchain ledgers can satisfy regulatory recordkeeping duties, Coinpulsehq reports. The guidance does not approve direct investment of customer funds in Bitcoin or Ether, according to Ambcrypto's September 25, 2026 report.
The update came from three CFTC divisions: the Market Participants Division, the Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk. Ambcrypto reported that Chairman Michael S. Selig described the staff move as consistent with the agency's ongoing push for what he called regulatory clarity for the crypto industry. The changes were published at 18:00 EDT.
Assets already permitted under CFTC rules, including US Treasuries, corporate bonds and money-market fund shares, can now be held in tokenized form if the token carries the same legal and economic rights as the traditional asset. Staff Letter 26-05 did not expand the list of permitted customer-fund investments. Its framework concerns certain crypto assets accepted as margin collateral under specific conditions.
Tokenized assets allowed
Tokenized eligible investments must still satisfy the conditions in Regulation 1.25, which covers liquidity, concentration limits, maturity, other investment conditions and custody. That regulation governs where futures commission merchants and derivatives clearing organizations may invest customer money, and the new guidance lets eligible investments be tokenized without dismantling those limits.
On recordkeeping, regulated firms may now use blockchain or distributed ledger technology, provided records meet existing standards for authenticity, reliability, retention and accessibility. The change reduces the need to keep separate on-chain and off-chain records. Firms remain responsible for producing records during network outages or other disruptions, rather than the networks themselves.
What the FAQs do not do is authorise direct customer-fund investment in Bitcoin or Ether. Ambcrypto reported that the agency has not approved crypto as a permitted customer-fund investment, and its framework instead addresses digital assets used as margin collateral. Coinpedia framed the update as the agency writing crypto market rules on its own after the CLARITY Act stalled, quoting Selig saying the CFTC will continue to ship rules.
Recordkeeping moves on-chain
Futures commission merchants and clearing organizations now have a defined path to hold tokenized versions of conservative instruments such as Treasuries and money-market shares inside customer-fund accounts, which could make tokenized collateral easier to use in regulated derivatives markets. The recordkeeping change matters for compliance teams weighing whether blockchain infrastructure can replace or supplement traditional databases. Both changes stay inside limits the agency already enforces rather than opening customer funds to crypto exposure, a distinction that separates this update from market-structure legislation the Senate has not passed. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and Michael Saylor have argued blockchain adoption will continue without a comprehensive market-structure law, as Ambcrypto noted.