CFTC Heads Into October 2026 With Less Staff and a Bigger Crypto To-Do List
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission entered October 2026 with fewer staff, fewer enforcement cases, and a larger crypto and prediction-market rulemaking agenda.
By the end of 2025, the agency had 21% fewer staff on payroll than the previous 10-year average, according to U.S. Office of Personnel Management data. Staffing dropped 22% between January 2024 and January 2025. NPR
The drop continued into the current administration. Staffing shrank by 25% since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to figures cited in July 2026 reporting on congressional oversight of the agency.
Enforcement fell by a larger share. The CFTC brought nearly 80% fewer enforcement actions in 2025 than the annual average for the previous decade, according to the agency's annual reports. NPR The fiscal year 2025 report listed seven administrative cases and six civil injunctive cases. Administrative cases are decided inside the agency. Civil injunctive cases are filed in federal court to stop alleged violations.
Turnover reached the Division of Enforcement and the chair's office. Jeff Le Rich worked as a CFTC enforcement lawyer from 2005 to 2025. Joe Konizeski worked as a CFTC enforcement lawyer for 26 years and was among dozens forced out in 2025. Caroline Pham left the CFTC in December 2025. Pham is chief legal and administrative officer at cryptocurrency company MoonPay. Michael Selig is chairman of the CFTC.
Enforcement posture
Under the Biden administration, the CFTC brought enforcement cases against Gemini, Mirror Trading, Voyager, Celsius and FTX, and against prediction market Polymarket. After President Trump's inauguration, the CFTC rolled back enforcement actions against crypto firms Gemini, Celsius and FTX. NPR
In July 2026, a U.S. Senate Democrat called for a probe into staffing cuts at the derivatives regulator.
The cases that remained on the fiscal year 2025 ledger were largely retail fraud, pool fraud and false-statements matters rather than the large crypto-entity actions of prior years.
Fall 2026 docket
CFTC press releases from August through early October 2026 show enforcement orders and market-structure actions side by side. CFTC
On enforcement, the agency secured a court order on Sept. 30 directing a Louisiana man and an Arkansas woman to pay over $31 million for digital assets and precious metals fraud. On Sept. 25, it charged Cash FX Group S.A. and its CEO plus three others in connection with a $950 million fraud scheme. On Sept. 15, it secured a court order directing a Florida man to pay over $6 million for options fraud and imposing trading bans. On Sept. 9, it secured court orders directing Texas and Florida residents to pay over $500,000 in disgorgement and civil monetary penalties and imposing trading bans for commodity pool fraud. Disgorgement means giving up money gained from wrongdoing.
Other actions addressed trading violations. On Aug. 28, the CFTC ordered Gabriel Perez to pay $172,000 for insider trading of Mention Market event contracts, which pay out based on an event outcome. On Sept. 1, the CFTC resolved an action against a swaps trader for making false statements. On Aug. 19, the CFTC resolved actions against the former Alameda CEO and an Alameda and FTX co-founder.
On whistleblowers, the CFTC granted multiple awards totaling over $150 million on Sept. 14 and approved a final rule concerning whistleblower awards on Sept. 11.
On crypto market structure, the agency issued proposals and staff guidance rather than new lawsuits. On Oct. 5, the CFTC sought public comment on an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking relating to Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets. An Advanced Notice is an early step that seeks input before a draft rule. The same day, it issued a no-action letter for DCMs regarding converting existing perpetual-style broad-based security index futures into true perpetual futures. A no-action letter states staff will not recommend enforcement if conditions are met, a DCM is a regulated exchange, and perpetual futures are contracts that do not expire. On Sept. 24, CFTC staff released updates to FAQs concerning registrants and registered entity activities relating to crypto assets and blockchain technologies. On Sept. 17, CFTC staff issued a no-action position to providers of passive software.
The agency said it is moving to institute rules and regulations accounting for "distinctions between crypto assets and other types of commodities." It also said it has started a process to address "gaps in crypto-asset market structure and create clear rules for innovators and market participants." CFTC
Prediction markets received separate treatment. On Sept. 22, the CFTC released a staff advisory on Mention Markets. The 2026 Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asks "what aspects of prediction markets are relevant to its public-interest and antitrust consideration in deciding whether to adopt or amend regulations for prediction markets."
Other September actions covered clearing, reporting and cross-border coordination. On Sept. 2, the CFTC issued a final rule to modify the clearing requirement for Canadian Dollar- and Mexican Peso-denominated interest rate swaps, and staff issued a no-action position on Large Trader Reporting for Direct Participants. On Aug. 20, the CFTC sought public comments on a proposed elimination of the SEF Order Book Requirement for Permitted Transactions. An SEF is a regulated platform for swaps. On Aug. 19, it requested comment on the listing of Compute Derivatives Contracts. On Aug. 31, it further extended the compliance date for amendments to Form PF. On Oct. 1, CFTC staff extended Brexit-related no-action positions. On Sept. 11, UK and U.S. authorities issued a joint readout of a principals' meeting regarding Central Counterparty Resolution.
On organization and outreach, members of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee joined Chairman Selig in Washington at its inaugural meeting on Aug. 21. The Innovation Task Force announced on Sept. 21 it would host a Frontier Forum Series on innovative financial technologies. On Sept. 10, Chairman Selig and Kansas State University announced the agenda for the Oct. 22-23 AgCon Conference in Overland Park.
The broader context here for practitioners is capacity versus mandate. A 21% staffing deficit against the 10-year average and a docket of 13 fiscal year 2025 enforcement actions leave fewer trial attorneys to monitor DCMs, SEFs, FCMs and intermediaries, while the ANPRs on crypto-asset transactions, crypto-asset markets, perpetual futures, SEF execution and compute derivatives would add new registration, reporting and surveillance questions. The no-action positions on perpetual futures, passive software, Large Trader Reporting and Brexit relief function as interim operating terms while permanent rules are drafted, a pattern that places weight on staff letters and FAQs until notice-and-comment concludes.
