By Tyler Warner
5 min read
Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.
GM!
Today's top news:
A rare joint staff statement from the SEC and CFTC says registered U.S. exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating trading in certain spot crypto products.
Translation: a real path for spot crypto trading is now visible.
The SEC and the CFTC issued a joint statement saying that SEC- or CFTC-registered exchanges can facilitate trading of certain spot crypto asset products, under current law.
Yes, that means spot BTC and ETH trading is coming (and likely several other crypto majors).
The statement is explicitly staff guidance (not a rule), but it invites filings and requests for relief and lays out what regulators will evaluate - margin/clearing/settlement, surveillance of underlying markets, and public trade-data dissemination.
It sits under the SEC’s Project Crypto and the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint initiatives.
So who could list?
SEC-registered national securities exchanges (like the NYSE, Nasdaq and CBOE), CFTC-registered designated contract markets (i.e. the CME) and many others (subject to approval).
“Today’s joint staff statement represents a significant step forward… Market participants should have the freedom to choose where they trade spot crypto assets.” - SEC Chair Paul Atkins
“Under the prior administration… the message was clear: innovation was not welcome. That chapter is over.” - CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham
For the first time, the two market regulators are jointly inviting registered exchanges to bring spot crypto into the regulated exchange stack.
Soon, investors and traders are going to have many more options for where to buy, trade and hold crypto beyond just Coinbase, Kraken and a few other viable options.
It also means we will likely see spot + derivatives under one roof with tighter spreads and fewer fragmentation headaches. That’s clearly a better user experience.
Arguably the most important aspect of this announcement though - it shows Project Crypto means business, and they’re moving fast.
This administration is showing a clear shift from “enforcement first” to “coordination first.”
It means more bullish announcements like this are coming, and likely soon.
All of the barriers are falling down.
Crypto trading will go mainstream in the U.S. under a regulated framework. It’s happening in real time…
A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Here's a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:
Section dedicated to headlines in the AI sector of crypto:
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
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