A Proposal for Oversight of Digital Asset Spot Markets in the U.S.

Recent turmoil in the digital asset market has renewed calls for greater oversight of the sector. Unfortunately, the uncertain legal status of digital assets in the U.S. complicates efforts to more vigorously regulate them. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has classified Bitcoin and Ether – and by extension other cryptocurrencies that are similarly structured – as commodities (courts have also upheld this classification). While the CFTC regulates commodity derivatives, t