Bitcoin Is the Crypto Sector's Top Asset

Bitcoin is the crypto sector's top asset and is also universally defined by U.S. regulators and courts as a commodity

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking public comments on the potential for around-the-clock trading of derivatives, an ability already executed by firms in the bitcoin and other digital assets sectors.

The agency's request, issued Monday, comes as Congress works to finalize a bill setting forth the industry's rules, largely placing the CFTC in charge of crypto market oversight.

Though the agency's request doesn't explicitly discuss digital assets, it does note that "technological advancements and market demand" are pushing CFTC-regulated firms toward being able to handle transactions at all times.

“As I have long said, the CFTC must take a forward-looking approach to shifts in market structure to ensure our markets remain vibrant and resilient while protecting all participants,” said Acting Chairman Caroline Pham.

President Donald Trump appointed Pham to run the agency while it awaits the Senate confirmation of its chairman nominee, Brian Quintenz.

Trading without downtime presents a host of challenges for U.S. markets unaccustomed to it, according to the request, including "what governance frameworks, exchange staffing models and technologies would be necessary to ensure market integrity and operational resilience, as well as compliance with all core principles, under a continuous trading model." Such an expansion would require firms to handle live maintenance and technology patches and human monitoring of the systems and markets during the extended hours, issues already long dealt with by digital assets operations.

The CFTC would still need a change in law before it could have direct authority over actual spot-market trading of bitcoin and other tokens that aren't eventually categorized as securities, which would get SEC oversight. If the agency is ultimately a major regulator of trading and of the platforms and firms that handle customers' transactions, that's a space in which 24/7 activity is already the model.