CFTC Forms Innovation Task Force to Clarify Crypto Rules

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission named Michael Passalacqua to lead a newly formed Innovation Task Force and announced five initial members to advance regulatory clarity for crypto and related technologies. Chairman Mike Selig launched the task force on March 24 to coordinate the agency’s work on emerging markets and technologies.

Passalacqua, who is Selig’s senior advisor at the CFTC, will head the group. The five initial members are Hank Balaban, Sam Canavos, Mark Fajfar, Eugene Gonzalez IV and Dina Moussa. The agency said the team will focus on delivering clearer rules for market participants in crypto, blockchain, prediction markets and other contracts that touch digital assets.

In a Friday announcement the CFTC published an “innovation tracker,” listing the agency’s work under Selig to promote regulatory clarity, market integrity and responsible technological progress. The tracker identifies three main areas of focus: crypto and blockchain, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and contracts and prediction markets. The agency described the task force as a way to marshal expertise across those topics and to coordinate outreach, policy development and legal analysis.

The appointees have a mix of private-sector and in-house experience. Balaban formerly worked on crypto matters at Latham & Watkins. Canavos advised on crypto and prediction markets at Patomak. Gonzalez practiced blockchain law at Sidley. Fajfar is a veteran of the CFTC’s legal ranks. Moussa serves as special counsel in the agency’s Market Participants Division.

Chairman Selig described the group as “a leading team that exhibits deep expertise and an enthusiastic commitment to deliver clear rules of the road for American innovators.” The agency said the task force will engage with market participants and coordinate internal work to refine its positions on emerging products and technologies.

The CFTC’s effort follows a mid-March statement from the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that the SEC does not view most crypto assets as securities, a position that could leave the CFTC as the primary regulator for many tokens and related markets. The definitive division of authority between the two agencies depends on congressional action. Former SEC chair Paul Atkins wrote on social media that the agencies are “ready to implement the CLARITY Act” and urged Congress to pass market-structure legislation.

The CFTC did not publish a detailed timetable or an immediate agenda beyond the innovation tracker. Market firms and investors are expected to watch the task force’s work for guidance on oversight of crypto trading, derivatives and related technologies.