The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or the Commission) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) that lays out a potential federal market structure for certain retail cryptoasset transactions (CTXs). The ANPRM would use Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) as the statutory foundation for two contemplated rulemakings: Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions (Regulation CTX) and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets (Regulation CAM). The ANPRM does not presently contain proposed regulatory text; instead, it sets out preliminary interpretations and a detailed framework on which the Commission seeks public comment.[7]

One key feature is the jurisdictional theory. The CFTC generally…