Government-approved crypto exchanges given green light to manage direct cryptocurrency trading
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have taken a significant step forward in their efforts to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, as they published a joint statement on September 2, 2025, approving the trading of certain cryptocurrency products on registered exchanges in the United States.
This move is among the latest evidence of the improving regulatory environment for digital assets under the Trump administration. In the eight months since Donald Trump has been in office, the SEC and CFTC have dropped multiple lawsuits against prominent crypto organizations, signaling their willingness to work with the industry, which supported Trump's 2024 campaign.
The joint statement invites market participants to engage with SEC or CFTC staff, as needed, and encourages the sharing of reference pricing venues by National Securities Exchanges (NSEs), Designated Contract Markets (DCMs), and Foreign Board of Trade (FBOTs) to improve market surveillance.
Registered exchanges are now allowed to facilitate trading of some spot crypto products, according to the joint statement. This includes CFTC-registered designated contract markets, foreign board of trade, and commodity transactions listed on an SEC-registered national securities exchange. However, applicable rules will permit clearinghouses to partner with a custodian to maintain customer accounts, but the exchange, as a self-regulatory organization, and the SEC will have very little to no legal authority to set rules, examine, or enforce trading or customer rules around spot commodities trading on securities exchanges, according to Amanda Fischer, former SEC chief of staff.
Fischer raised concerns about the statement's vagueness and the absence of regulation regarding spot commodities trading on securities exchanges. The SEC and CFTC did not mention specific digital assets in the joint statement, but VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel suggests that major equity exchanges, including NYSE and the Nasdaq, may soon have spot trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more.
Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline Pham wrote on the social media platform X that she was proud to work with the SEC to deliver regulatory clarity for trading crypto safely on registered exchanges. This development is expected to bring more legitimacy to the cryptocurrency industry and potentially attract more institutional investors.
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