SEC, CFTCend-of-year milestones for crypto oversight amid government shutdown

Federal agencies are teeing up cryptocurrency regulatory milestones for the end of 2025.

In a post on Tuesday on X, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Acting Chair Pham said the agency is prioritizing crypto trading and "tokenized collateral" by the end of 2025.

"Listed spot crypto trading and tokenized collateral by the end of the year," Pham said in a post on X.

Later on Wednesday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins also noted a push to get initiatives done before the end of the year. In an interview with CNBC, he said the ongoing government shutdown is affecting the agency's work. Congress has continually failed to reach a deal on funding since Sept. 30, and the shutdown is significantly limiting what federal agencies like the CFTC and SEC can do.

"Our staff can't be working on developing proposals and some of the things that we want to roll out, hopefully by the end of the year," Atkins said. "If Congress can let us get back to work, that's what we're looking for."

Both the SEC and CFTC are working on priorities set out in a report released by the White House over the summer. The White House said the SEC should consider creating safe-harbors for crypto and establish a "fit-for-purpose exemption from registration" for securities distributions, while granting the CFTC the authority to "regulate spot markets in non-security digital assets."

For the CFTC's part, Pham announced in August that the agency would create an initiative for "trading spot crypto asset contracts." At the SEC, Atkins has embarked on "Project Crypto" and has plans to have an innovation exemption in place by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Washington are working to draft and advance legislation that would write rules for the crypto industry at large. The initiative is also being pushed by the White House, which wants to see the bill done by the end of this year.

Senate Democrats and Republicans are both holding separate meetings with crypto advocates on Wednesday to discuss the bill. The Senate Republican meeting is happening at 2 p.m. ET and will include Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Kraken CEO Dave Ripley, Circle President Heath Tabert, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty, Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith, along with others, according to a Senate aide.

Atkins said it would be great to have legislation to undergird the SEC's work.

"I'm hoping that Congress will be able to do, as the president asked, and deliver a bill on his desk for signature by the end of the year," Atkins told CNBC. "I think that would be great for everybody, for market structure and for clarity for people to know what's a security, what's not, and for us to be able to harmonize with our fellow regulators."