CFTC Chairman Selig says FTX collapse proves crypto needs clear rules

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig has a lesson he wants the crypto industry to learn from FTX. Clear rules, he argues, are the only way to protect innovation and stop fraud at the same time. Selig made his case at the Fordham Law Blockchain Regulatory Symposium on October 5, 2026. He pointed to the November 2022 implosion of FTX as the clearest example of what happens when an industry runs without guardrails. The numbers from that collapse still sting. FTX operators stole over $8 billion in customer assets, according to the research findings tied to Selig’s remarks. One detail from that wreckage matters a lot for his argument. Assets held at FTX’s CFTC-registered subsidiaries were protected and segregated. What the CFTC is proposing On the same day as the speech, the CFTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, or ANPRM. Think of it as the agency’s way of saying “we have a draft idea, tell us what’s wrong with it” before anything becomes binding. The notice covers two frameworks: Regulation CTX and Regulation CAM. Together, they would establish a new federal registration category for what the CFTC calls “crypto asset markets.” The focus is narrow by design. The proposals target lev...