SEC & CFTC Signal “Go-to-Market” Path for Spot Crypto Trading on Registered Venues

U.S. regulators have taken a coordinated step toward making spot crypto products market ready. In a joint staff statement released September 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission clarified that exchanges registered with either agency are not prohibited from facilitating trading of certain spot crypto asset products. The move was framed as an effort to expand venue choice and market optionality while maintaining investor protections. InvestmentNews described the announcement as a practical roadmap that could accelerate compliant listings and trading, potentially positioning the United States as more welcoming to regulated spot crypto markets.

National securities exchanges and CFTC designated contract markets now have clearer guardrails for enabling spot crypto commodity trading, subject to existing rulebooks, surveillance, and compliance programs. The statement does not reclassify assets, meaning firms must still determine whether a token falls under securities law or commodity oversight. Listing standards, disclosures, custody controls, and surveillance will remain central to regulatory expectations. Observers say that clearer coordination between agencies could encourage exchanges to move faster on compliant spot listings and could also support the pipeline for crypto exchange traded products as exchanges pursue updated generic listing standards.

For firms, the practical implications are extensive. Each asset will need to be mapped to its appropriate regulatory status and aligned to the correct venue type, whether an SEC registered exchange or a CFTC regulated market. Risk controls, market access procedures, and pre trade compliance systems must be refreshed in line with SEC Rule 15c3 5. Surveillance and anti money laundering programs must extend to cover crypto spot order flow and counterparties, with heightened scrutiny of manipulation patterns, KYC procedures, and sanctions screening. Books and records obligations, including Exchange Act Rule 17a 4 and FINRA Rule 2210, will require that communications, tickets, and advertisements tied to crypto products are captured and preserved in immutable formats. Custody frameworks must be validated against identity theft rules, wallet security expectations, and incident response planning. Firms will also need to update customer disclosures on fees, risks, volatility, forks, airdrops, price sources, and conflicts to remain consistent with Reg BI and fiduciary duty requirements.

GiGCXOs says it is already positioned to help firms manage this transition. The company’s founder has experience building secondary markets for digital securities using distributed ledger technology. Its AICompliance360 platform offers end to end supervision of crypto communications, marketing reviews, and records archiving. WSPGuard360 provides rapid updates to supervisory procedures covering listing, surveillance, AML, market access, and incident response. Market Access Rule readiness, regulatory mapping between SEC and CFTC regimes, and compliant archiving solutions are also among its offerings.

The SEC and CFTC have not removed the compliance challenges involved, but they have opened a clearer, regulated path for listing and trading certain spot crypto products in the United States. Industry experts note that firms that act quickly to operationalize controls will be best positioned to capture new trading flow without regulatory drag.

Sources: InvestmentNews coverage of the announcement; official CFTC/SEC joint staff statement (Sept. 2, 2025); corroborating industry reporting. investmentnews.com, CFTC, CoinDesk