The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) plans to adapt financial market regulation to large-scale asset tokenization, the use of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and the expansion of 24/7 trading.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said during remarks at the U.S. Treasury Market Conference that digital technologies should improve the efficiency and resilience of U.S. markets. He said financial infrastructure changed significantly over the past 2 decades, requiring the CFTC to reassess its approach to oversight. The Commission’s priorities include the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), broader use of stablecoins as collateral, and preparations for a potential shift to continuous trading in certain markets.
According to the report, the derivatives market grew significantly over the past 20 years. The total notional value of derivatives worldwide nearly doubled to $1.2 quadrillion, with about half of the market under CFTC oversight. Average daily trading volume in U.S. Treasury futures rose from about $200 billion to $900 billion, while volume in short-term interest rate futures, including SOFR contracts, increased from about $2 trillion to $5 trillion.
The interest rate market expanded even more sharply. Open interest in a comparable segment of U.S. short-term interest rate products rose from about $10 trillion in 2006 to more than $60 trillion today. Average daily trading volume in U.S. dollar interest rate derivatives exceeds $2 trillion, compared with about $300 billion in 2007. Selig said futures, options, and swaps evolved from supplementary hedging instruments into a key part of financial infrastructure, affecting liquidity, risk transfer, and price formation.
Against this backdrop, the CFTC plans to place greater emphasis on analyzing risks across multiple interconnected markets. The regulator intends to improve data collection and oversight of how market participants’ positions, leverage, and liquidity interact across futures, swaps, and underlying asset markets.
The Commission is also preparing for further digitalization of the financial system. Its main areas of focus will include:
- Large-scale asset tokenization. The CFTC expects to adapt existing rules to the widespread use of blockchain technology, tokenized assets, and artificial intelligence.
- Tokenized collateral. Selig believes the use of high-quality tokenized assets could accelerate the movement of collateral among clearing organizations, intermediaries, and end market participants.
- Stablecoins. In 2026, the CFTC expanded the range of eligible tokenized collateral to include certain payment stablecoins issued by national trust banks.
- 24/7 trading. The Commission is preparing its oversight systems, collateral requirements, and operational frameworks for the potential introduction of continuous trading in certain markets.
The CFTC doesn’t plan to introduce a single 24/7 trading regime across all asset classes. According to Selig, crypto assets and precious metals may already be suitable for trading 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while agricultural commodities, energy products, and some financial instruments may not yet be ready for such a model. The Commission previously sought input from market participants on the issue, while its staff issued recommendations on round-the-clock trading, clearing, and settlement.
Another area of reform concerns the U.S. Treasury market. The CFTC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) previously allowed CME and FICC to expand cross-margining to customer positions in Treasury securities and futures. The approach is intended to allow related positions to be considered together and reduce excess collateral requirements.
The changes come ahead of new SEC central clearing requirements. The compliance deadline for transactions in Treasury securities was set for December 31, 2026, while the deadline for Treasury repo transactions is June 30, 2027. The CFTC also plans to adjust its rules so futures commission merchants can clear repo transactions using customer funds before the second requirement takes effect.
The CFTC chairman expects tokenization, blockchain-based settlement, and the expansion of continuous trading to significantly reshape financial markets over the next decade. He said the regulator’s task is to establish rules that allow new technologies to be adopted while preserving market resilience and risk controls.
In March 2026, the SEC and CFTC, the 2 key U.S. financial regulators, agreed to coordinate oversight of securities, digital asset, and derivatives markets without waiting for the relevant federal legislation to pass. The bill is still under development.
