United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission: The commodities enterprises can invest the token chemical assets and use the blockchain records

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued updated guidance on Thursday allowing platforms regulated by it to invest customer funds in the form of licensed token assets and clarifying that blockchain ledgers can be used for compliance with regulatory record-keeping obligations. This is yet another green light for crypto and blockchain activity in derivatives compliance after the agency previously released a friendly signal.

Compliance pathways for client funds invested in token chemical assets

Under the new guidelines, CFTC-regulated platforms can allocate client funds to token cryptocurrencies that are themselves part of a licensed asset class. The regulator has set two hard standards:

First, platforms must ensure that the legal and economic rights conferred on holders of token -chemical assets are identical or functionally equivalent to those enjoyed by traditional-form asset owners; secondly, related assets must be properly managed.

The practical implication of this framework is that previously, compliance agencies in the derivatives industry faced a grey area with unclear rules even if they intended to use token chemical assets. Now, as long as the underlying asset itself was compliant, its on-chain expression could also receive equal treatment, which equates to opening up a clear pathway for operation.

blockchain records officially recognized

Another aspect of the guidance is equally worthy of industry concern: CFTC staff stated that regulators would not object if record-keeping entities use blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology to create and maintain on-chain records, and fulfill their record keeping obligations.

The exemption applies to all CFTC rules involving record-keeping and regulatory data maintenance. That is, the regulated agency no longer has to worry about violating traditional bookkeeping requirements by moving official transaction records to on-chain .

What it means for the industry

The CFTC is the primary regulator of the United States derivatives market, and its rules for client asset custody and transaction records have long been based on traditional financial infrastructure. This update extends the agency's recent openness to both token and on-chain infrastructures by first acknowledging that token -based assets can be treated as their underlying assets, then recognizing that blockchain itself is sufficient to assume record-keeping functions, with a regulatory framework gradually adapting to the realities of settling on-chain .

The next concern for institutions engaged in the token business is whether self-custody arrangements will meet both of these criteria, namely equal validity and proper holding. This would be a prerequisite to translating the new guidelines into actual operations.

(Risk note: This article is for public information only and does not constitute any investment advice.