The Commodity Futures Trading Commission released updated staff guidance allowing futures brokers and clearinghouses to invest customer funds in tokenized versions of permitted traditional assets. Three divisions within the agency published the guidance on September 25, 2026, marking a step toward regulatory integration for onchain financial instruments.
Tokenized Money Market Funds and Collateral Rules
CFTC Regulation 1.25 restricts what futures commission merchants and derivatives clearing organizations can do with customer money, limiting them to a strict list of permitted investments. Under the updated frequently asked questions, a tokenized form of those assets qualifies if the underlying asset is permitted, the token provides legal and economic rights equivalent to the traditional version, liquidity and maturity limits are met, and the tokens sit at an acceptable depository.
For tokenized government money market funds, agency staff expect firms to obtain a written acknowledgment letter from the fund’s custodian confirming the assets are segregated and free of liens. Payment stablecoins remain ineligible for direct customer fund investment because the underlying permitted-investment list was left unchanged.
Onchain Recordkeeping and Technology Neutrality
Alongside investment guidance, staff confirmed that recordkeeping requirements under Regulation 1.31 and swap-data rules under Regulation 45.2 are technology neutral. Regulated firms can create and maintain required records entirely on a blockchain without keeping redundant offchain copies, provided the systems satisfy rules on authenticity, reliability, and accessibility.
Firms utilizing public permissionless blockchains must maintain systems capable of producing records for agency inspection even if the underlying network or a block explorer becomes unavailable. The recordkeeping clarifications stemmed from industry feedback submitted by dYdX Labs, the Blockchain Association, and the Solana Policy Institute following a June 16 request for information.
Regulatory Context and Scope
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig noted the agency’s ongoing efforts to provide regulatory clarity for the digital asset industry. The updated answers reflect the views of the staff divisions in Market Participants, Market Oversight, and Clearing and Risk, and do not constitute formal binding rules or amendments to existing regulations.
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