Caroline Pham Says CFTC Could Cover Nearly All Crypto Assets

Caroline Pham said the Commodity Exchange Act could give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdiction over nearly all crypto assets without additional legislation, a view that would extend the agency’s potential reach across digital-asset markets.

Pham, a former CFTC acting chair who now serves as MoonPay’s chief legal officer and chief administrative officer, said the law defines commodities broadly as goods or products whose prices or qualities can fluctuate. She described onions and movie box-office receipts as exceptions.

Under that interpretation, Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and stablecoins could fall within the CFTC’s potential jurisdiction. Pham also identified artificial intelligence computing resources as an emerging market where derivatives could be developed.

The comments come as the CFTC advances a federal framework for leveraged crypto trading. On Oct. 5, the agency issued advance notices for Regulation Crypto Asset Markets (Regulation CAM) and Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions (Regulation CTX). The proposals would establish an optional federal route for exchanges offering retail crypto trading on margin, with leverage or through financing. They would not automatically require every crypto exchange or spot transaction to move onto a CFTC-registered platform.

The initiative continues the agency’s Crypto Sprint program, which began in 2025 and authorized CFTC-registered exchanges to offer crypto spot trading for the first time.

Pham also described distinct roles for stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits in wholesale markets. She estimated that the cash required for all atomic settlements in a single day would total $15 billion, exceeding the amount of cash that could be transferred directly. Banks instead use net settlement to offset obligations and exchange only the remaining balances.

Tokenized deposits could preserve the liquidity advantages of bank deposits while enabling blockchain-based settlement, Pham said. Stablecoins could be better suited to transactions involving unfamiliar counterparties or a goal of reducing settlement risk. Under that model, stablecoins would support cross-bank and trust-minimized transactions, while tokenized deposits would handle frequent net settlement.

Pham also projected that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq could list tokenized shares with substantial trading volume within two years. She distinguished those assets from synthetic tokens that track stock prices without providing ownership, voting or corporate governance rights.

She pointed to partnerships involving Nasdaq and Payward, as well as NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange and OKX, as examples of traditional finance and crypto technology moving closer together. Pham added that nonfungible tokens could enter another growth phase once regulatory pathways become clearer, with potential uses as customer-engagement tools rather than securities.