Michael Selig said tokenization could reshape financial markets as the CFTC and SEC continue advancing onchain initiatives despite the CLARITY Act setback.
US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Michael Selig said financial markets should prepare for “mass tokenization” as regulators adapt existing frameworks for blockchain, artificial intelligence and onchain markets.
In remarks delivered Tuesday at the US Treasury Market Conference, Selig said tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) could become the foundation of a more efficient financial system, enabling near-instant settlement and real-time collateral movement between clearinghouses, intermediaries and users.
“Just as the transition from hand signals to electronic trading advanced our financial system, I believe tokenization can do the same for all asset classes,” Selig said, adding that the CFTC would pursue principles-based rules as tokenization and onchain finance evolve.
Selig said in August that the CFTC would move ahead with crypto rules under its existing authority if Congress did not pass the CLARITY Act. The Senate failed to advance the bill on Sept. 15.
On Sept. 17, the CFTC submitted a regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and markets for White House review. The filing is still at the “prerule” stage and does not detail the planned regulations.
Officials at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have also promoted the development of tokenized markets.
In a Bloomberg TV interview, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets Director Jamie Selway said that tokenization and crypto have recently become politicized but are “not naturally a politicized function.”
Selway said US success in developing the markets should receive bipartisan support.
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