SEC Pushes Toward Unified Crypto Market Rules With CFTC on Perpetual Futures, Tokenized Securities

According to Jamie Selway, Director of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets, on Thursday, the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are moving toward a coordinated regulatory framework for tokenized securities, perpetual futures, and digital asset trading infrastructure. Speaking at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange & Fintech Conference in New York, Selway said the agencies aim to prevent regulatory arbitrage and avoid shifting firms between regulators when products touch both frameworks. The SEC is also working to facilitate 23-by-5 equity trading by year-end.

Selway acknowledged persistent debate over perpetual futures classification, noting that perpetuals dominate offshore crypto derivatives markets, representing over 70 percent of centralized trading volume during parts of 2025. The CFTC approved Kalshi's proposal for perpetual Bitcoin futures in May, opening a potential regulated pathway. On tokenization, Selway confirmed the SEC is developing a framework to allow tokenized securities to list and trade inside regulated US markets, addressing industry interest from firms including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Coinbase.