In a significant move towards regulatory clarity, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are joining forces to support advancements in the crypto space, including Decentralized Finance (DeFi), prediction markets, perpetual contracts, and portfolio margining.
The two leading U.S. financial watchdogs are collaborating to streamline regulations, close existing loopholes, extend trading availability, and leverage innovation waivers to ensure American markets remain competitive on a global scale.
🚨Breaking: @SECGov and @CFTC intensifying cooperation to foster crypto, DeFi, prediction markets, perpetual contracts & portfolio margining.
These agencies aim to align rules, minimize regulatory gaps, broaden trading windows, and utilize innovation exemptions to… pic.twitter.com/T8utxyhbKe
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) September 5, 2025
In a joint statement, the agencies expressed, “As securities and non-securities markets increasingly merge, we are initiating a new era of collaboration between U.S. market supervisors. The responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC are increasingly intertwined, and the innovative landscape demands even greater partnership.”
A Coordinated Approach to Portfolio Margining
This announcement follows their previous joint statement regarding spot crypto asset products, marking the initial step in their coordinated efforts. Historically, the agencies have faced challenges due to overlapping jurisdictions and differing regulatory strategies, particularly concerning cryptocurrencies.
However, they now concur that a unified SEC-CFTC framework for portfolio margining has the potential to optimize capital efficiency by acknowledging offsetting positions across various asset classes.
Both regulatory bodies affirmed their willingness to consider “innovation exemptions” to establish safe harbors or exceptions. These would allow market participants to engage in peer-to-peer trading involving spot, leveraged, margin, or other transactions within the spot crypto asset domain. This includes derivatives, such as perpetual contracts on DeFi platforms.
These safe harbors and exemptions would enable participants to develop viable business models while the agencies progress with long-term regulatory development.
The SEC and CFTC emphasize the fundamental American principle of the right to self-custody of one’s assets. Currently, regulated venues facilitate spot crypto trading. The regulatory bodies indicate other avenues for peer-to-peer spot crypto transactions exist.
Joint Roundtable Scheduled for September
The SEC and CFTC have announced a joint roundtable dedicated to regulatory harmonization, scheduled for September 29, 2025.
According to the press release, both agencies declared, “Aligned with the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report advocating for stronger American leadership in digital financial technology, we are dedicated to leveraging our existing authority to create appropriate regulations for cutting-edge products and trading platforms.”
The roundtable will focus on strategies for harmonizing approaches to product offerings, fostering greater market choice, and safeguarding investors through clear, predictable, and innovation-friendly regulatory frameworks.
The SEC and CFTC are open to exploring opportunities for further collaboration, including potentially extending trading hours where suitable. Extending trading hours could better align U.S. markets with the increasingly global, always-available economy. However, there’s likely no single solution suitable for all asset types, suggesting varied applications based on asset characteristics.
Moreover, the SEC and CFTC are poised to examine collaborative avenues to assess the availability of event contracts to U.S. market participants, irrespective of jurisdictional boundaries.
The statement also addressed international crypto markets featuring numerous perpetual contracts, defined as swaps lacking fixed expiry dates. Their usage in the U.S. is currently limited due to jurisdictional and definitional considerations.
The regulatory bodies stated, “The agencies are considering simultaneous actions to bring perpetual contracts onshore, provided they adhere to stringent investor and customer-protection standards, potentially enabling their trading across SEC- and CFTC-regulated platforms.”
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