A bipartisan proposal introduced on November 10, 2025 by Senators John Boozman and Cory Booker attempts to reshape how the United States governs digital assets. The draft places Bitcoin, Ethereum and similar assets under the CFTC’s oversight as “digital commodities,” setting new rules for registration, supervision and consumer protection. Its goal is to finally settle the long-standing jurisdictional fog that has shaped the American crypto landscape. For exchanges, custodians and market intermediaries, the implications are immediate and structural.
The text also narrows definitions with notable precision. It distinguishes digital assets from digital commodities and explicitly excludes securities, permitted payment stablecoins, bank deposits and commodity derivatives. This tighter scope signals an effort to draw clean boundaries between the CFTC and the SEC, though the ultimate lines remain contested.
What the draft changes and where uncertainty remains
The central mechanism is a new registration regime for spot markets. Any platform offering trading in digital commodities would need to register with the CFTC as a digital commodity exchange, adopt governance and risk frameworks, and comply with standardized conduct rules. Brokers, dealers and qualified custodians would fall under similar requirements. The draft also restricts vertically integrated “all-in-one” models by limiting how exchange, custody and proprietary trading functions can coexist, a move aimed at reducing conflicts of interest.
Customer protection features heavily in the proposal. It mandates segregation of customer funds, bans conflicted related-party arrangements, sets transparency standards and defines token listing criteria that limit assets “readily susceptible to manipulation.” The creation of a dedicated CFTC office to support retail participants underscores the political emphasis on investor protection. Funding for these expanded responsibilities would come from new fees levied on regulated entities.
Still, the proposal leaves important issues unresolved. Key definitions, including “security,” “blockchain” and “decentralized finance systems and protocols,” remain bracketed, signaling active negotiation and points of tension between agencies. The draft also exists alongside parallel initiatives such as the House CLARITY Act and the Senate Banking Committee’s Responsible Financial Innovation Act. Its final shape will depend on intercommittee coordination and delicate SEC-CFTC alignment, especially for assets and transactions that straddle both regimes.
If enacted, the rules could raise compliance costs and tilt the market toward larger, better-capitalized institutions, potentially accelerating consolidation across the sector. For now, the bipartisan draft represents a substantial step toward regulatory clarity, but its ultimate impact will hinge on how it is reconciled with competing legislative texts through 2026.