Many of the major platforms are already registered as designated contract markets (DCMs), such as Coinbase, Crypto.com and Bitnomial, and also prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket. The new crypto subcategory would be narrower than that full DCM status, but if firms want to pursue futures, swaps and options, they’ll need the DCM stamp.

Closing the spot-market gap was at the core of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that stalled in the U.S. Senate last month. Since that legislative setback, the CFTC — alongside its larger, sister agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission — has been moving forward on crypto policies to make up for the absence of a new U.S. market structure law.

The SEC had moved well ahead of the CFTC in…