Money & Finance › Government agencies & regulation › The US financial regulators
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Since 1974· Institution or agency
Fact, law or dataA rule, statute, definition or measured number.
The independent federal agency that regulates futures, options on futures and most swaps, plus parts of crypto markets.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
Congress created it in 1974, replacing a small Agriculture Department office, after a commodity price surge and the Soviet Union's 1972 'Great Grain Robbery' wheat purchases. Because futures began with farm goods, the CFTC still answers to Congress's agriculture committees, not the banking committees that oversee the SEC. It oversees exchanges such as CME Group, clearinghouses and brokers, limits speculators' positions and, since Dodd–Frank, regulates most swaps. It treats bitcoin as a commodity. With only several hundred staff, it is far smaller than the SEC.
Why it matters
Futures and swaps set prices for oil, grain, interest rates and currencies and let companies and lenders hedge; the CFTC referees those markets.
Facts, rules and data
The Commodity Exchange Act (1936) and CFTC Act (1974); its weekly Commitments of Traders reports showing who holds futures; enforcement records such as its 2022 fraud suit against FTX.
Debates and risks
Whether it should get authority over spot crypto trading, and whether its approval of sports 'event contracts' overrides state gambling laws, are open in Congress and the courts.
Connections (5)
▸Options and other derivatives are split between the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)Fact, law or data
The connection
US derivatives oversight is split by history. Options on individual stocks and stock indexes, like those traded on Cboe, are securities under the SEC. Futures and options on futures, including stock-index futures, belong to the CFTC. Dodd–Frank split swaps the same way: most to the CFTC, 'security-based' swaps to the SEC.
When and why
The 1982 Shad–Johnson Accord between SEC chair John Shad and CFTC chair Philip Johnson drew the line; Dodd–Frank (2010) extended it to swaps.
How we know
Congress wrote the accord into law in 1982; Title VII of Dodd–Frank assigns swap jurisdiction to each agency.
Debates and risks
Most countries have one markets regulator; proposals to merge the SEC and CFTC recur but stall over congressional committee turf. Crypto has revived the boundary fight.
▸Futures contracts are regulated by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)Fact, law or data
The connection
The CFTC licenses futures exchanges such as CME Group, the clearinghouses that guarantee every trade, and the brokers that hold customer money. It requires daily margin, caps speculators' positions in key contracts and polices manipulation. Day-to-day broker oversight runs through the National Futures Association, an industry self-regulator like FINRA.
When and why
Federal futures oversight began with the 1922 Grain Futures Act after farm-price swings; the CFTC took over in 1975 under the 1974 act.
How we know
The Commodity Exchange Act; the CFTC's weekly Commitments of Traders reports; manipulation cases such as JPMorgan's $920 million 2020 settlement over 'spoofing' metals and Treasury futures.
Debates and risks
Whether 'event contracts' on sports and elections are futures for the CFTC or gambling for states to ban is in court; Kalshi's sports contracts sparked lawsuits in 2025.
▸FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried (2022) was sued by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)Fact, law or data
The connection
Because bitcoin and ether count as commodities under US law, the CFTC could sue for fraud in their markets. Its complaint charged FTX and Alameda with misusing customer deposits, and the court ordered them to pay $12.7 billion, mainly to customers through the bankruptcy.
When and why
Complaint filed December 13, 2022, in New York, alongside an SEC suit; judgment approved August 2024.
How we know
The CFTC complaint and consent order, and the federal court judgment.
Debates and risks
Which agency, the SEC or the CFTC, should oversee crypto trading remains disputed in Congress.
▸Interest-rate swaps: trading floating payments for fixed are regulated, since Dodd–Frank, by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)Fact, law or data
The connection
Before 2010, swaps were largely unregulated. Dodd–Frank's Title VII put them under the CFTC: dealers must register, standard swaps between financial firms must be cleared and reported, and dealers must tell clients a swap's mid-market value. Business borrowers hedging a loan can use the end-user exception to skip clearing.
When and why
Dodd–Frank was signed in July 2010; dealer registration began at the end of 2012 and clearing mandates phased in from 2013.
How we know
CFTC rules (17 CFR Part 23 for dealers, Part 50 for clearing) and swap data repositories' public reports.
Debates and risks
Whether the rules made the market safer or concentrated risk in a few clearinghouses that are now 'too big to fail' is debated.
▸CLARITY Act: crypto market-structure bill (not yet law) would hand spot crypto markets to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)Fact, law or data
The connection
The bill would give the CFTC, which already polices futures, exclusive power over spot trading in digital commodities such as bitcoin. Crypto exchanges, brokers and dealers would register with it and follow rules on customer funds, conflicts of interest and disclosure.
When and why
Written in the House in 2025; the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, drafted its own version.
How we know
The bill text and committee records.
Debates and risks
Whether the CFTC, a fraction of the SEC's size, can get the money and staff for this new job.