Former regulators urge lighter US rules for crypto perps

The SEC and CFTC are moving ahead with crypto rulemaking while market-structure legislation remains stalled, including a review of how derivatives such as swaps and perpetual futures should be regulated.

A bipartisan group of former officials from both agencies warned in a comment letter that similar risks should receive similar treatment and that overlapping rules could add compliance costs without improving investor protection.

Signatories include former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, former CFTC Commissioners Brian Quintenz and Sharon Brown-Hruska, former SEC Commissioner Steven Wallman, and former SEC Chief Economist Chester Spatt.

The letter comes as the CFTC considers bringing perpetual futures trading onshore. Kalshi, which sponsored the letter through outside counsel, estimates offshore perpetuals volume topped $90 trillion in 2025, up from about $28 trillion two years earlier.

The SEC has separately sent a planned rewrite of its crypto custody rules to the White House for review. The proposal is expected to address how regulated investment advisers could custody digital assets while meeting federal securities-law requirements, though the text is not public.

The SEC’s Regulation Crypto proposal has also been published in the Federal Register and is open for public comment until October 20.