CFTC Proposes Crypto Rules to Fill Congress's Gap | CoinDesk Daily

The CFTC proposed two rules to create a federal framework for crypto markets after Congress failed to pass market structure legislation. Regulation CTX would cover crypto trades involving leverage, margin or financing, while Regulation CAM would establish a new category of exchanges called crypto asset markets. The proposal is open for 60 days of public comment.

The two rules address different parts of the proposed framework: CTX focuses on the terms of crypto trades, and CAM creates a category for the venues where crypto assets are traded. The proposal presents a federal regulatory approach in the absence of congressional market structure legislation, but it remains subject to public comment.

Treasury’s FinCEN withdrew a proposed rule first introduced in December 2020 that would have required banks and crypto exchanges to report transfers exceeding $10,000 to self-hosted wallets. FinCEN also withdrew its 2023 proposal to classify crypto mixers as a primary money laundering concern. Treasury said the withdrawals are part of the administration’s deregulatory agenda.

Separately, Treasury sanctioned five parties connected to a six-year fundraising operation that sent more than $2 million to Hamas. Treasury said two France-based individuals raised money for humanitarian causes and passed it to Hamas, including $1.5 million after the October 7, 2023 attack. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency also went to a Gaza-based commander in Hamas’s Al-Qasam Brigades.

Treasury did not say that the full amount of more than $2 million was transferred in cryptocurrency. The account therefore distinguishes the overall funds sent to Hamas from the hundreds of thousands of dollars specifically identified as crypto transfers.