TLDR
- The CFTC updated its guidance on tokenized assets and blockchain recordkeeping for registered crypto entities.
- The update lets authorized companies invest customer funds in tokenized forms of assets under certain conditions.
- The change comes days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill.
- Federal regulators including the SEC and CFTC are moving to build crypto rules using their existing authority.
- State attorneys general have pushed back, arguing the bill would take away their power to regulate securities markets.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has updated its guidance on tokenized assets and blockchain based recordkeeping. The change was announced in a notice on Thursday.
The update applies to registered crypto related entities. It expands on guidance the CFTC first released in March.
🇺🇸UPDATE: CFTC now lets US brokers invest customer funds in TOKENIZED assets and keep records on-chain.
CFTC staff updated their crypto FAQs today, adding four new answers and revising one:
Tokenized investments:
Brokers and clearinghouses can invest customer funds in… pic.twitter.com/NaxVdntImk
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) September 24, 2026
Under the new language, authorized companies can invest customer funds in tokenized forms of an asset. This is allowed as long as the tokenized version gives holders the same legal and economic rights as the traditional form of that asset.
The CFTC also said it would not object to companies using blockchain based recordkeeping under the updated rules. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the changes are meant to give the crypto industry more regulatory clarity.
Senate Vote Failure Preceded The Change
The update came just days after the US Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. That bill was expected to spell out which roles the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission would play in overseeing digital assets.
With the vote failing, many now expect Congress will not pass crypto market structure legislation before 2027. That has pushed regulators to act on their own instead of waiting for lawmakers.
The CFTC has already sent a crypto market regulation plan to the White House for review. The SEC has been active too. Days after the failed vote, the SEC issued an order creating a temporary pathway for trading tokenized stocks.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said before the vote that his agency was ready to propose crypto rules even without action from Congress. The SEC has also proposed rules covering certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.
Industry And State Reaction
Crypto industry figures had supported the CLARITY Act and hoped it would pass. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said after an earlier failed procedural vote that the industry could not keep waiting on Congress.
Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association and a former CFTC commissioner, said regulatory certainty would open the industry to more investment. She said it would help integrate crypto further into traditional finance.
Not everyone supports the bill. A bipartisan group of state attorneys general sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee opposing the CLARITY Act. They argued the bill would take away states’ ability to regulate securities markets.
The attorneys general said states need to keep their power to protect people from scams. Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institution said he believes capital market regulation should happen at the federal level. He said states are better suited to handling fraud and scam enforcement.
Mersinger noted that state enforcement typically happens after a crime has already occurred. She said federal oversight is needed to prevent harm before it happens.
The CLARITY Act may not be fully dead. Senator Thom Tillis changed his vote to oppose the bill. That procedural move allows him to bring a motion to reconsider the legislation later in the Senate.
For now, federal regulators are moving ahead using the authority they already have, rather than waiting for Congress to act.
