U.S. financial regulators are set to deepen cooperation on cryptocurrency oversight, announcing plans for a memorandum of understanding between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as they seek clearer regulatory frameworks amid ongoing debate in Congress over digital asset legislation.
The SEC and CFTC will hold a joint public event to discuss harmonizing their approaches to overseeing digital assets, regulators confirmed in official announcements.
The session, titled “SEC–CFTC Harmonization: U.S. Financial Leadership in the Crypto Era,” was rescheduled from Jan. 27 and is slated to take place at CFTC headquarters in Washington, D.C. with live webcasts available.
At the session, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig are expected to outline how the agencies plan to work together to reduce overlap and regulatory gaps that have complicated compliance for digital asset firms.
Officials framed the effort as part of a broader push to make the United States a global leader in crypto markets.
Industry and policymakers have awaited clearer guidance on crypto oversight for years because digital assets often fall between the SEC’s securities mandates and the CFTC’s commodities authority.
Many market participants have struggled to determine which agency has jurisdiction over particular products and trading venues, creating legal uncertainty that has slowed product launches and international investment.
A proposed MoU between the SEC and CFTC to formalize cooperation has been reported by financial news outlets, which cited a Wall Street Journal account that regulators plan to agree on a coordinated framework.
In that report, SEC Chair Atkins said legislation would be preferable but that the agencies can act within their existing authorities to foster clarity.
However, no official memorandum text has been released publicly as of this writing, and regulatory agencies have not published a signed agreement, leaving some aspects of the proposed MoU unverified by primary documents.
Regulatory Background
In September 2025, the agencies’ staff from both regulators jointly issued a statement clarifying that registered exchanges under SEC and CFTC oversight may facilitate trading in certain spot crypto asset products without violating existing laws.
The statement was intended to provide a clearer framework for trading digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum on regulated platforms.
That 2025 joint statement, part of internal coordination efforts branded as the SEC’s Project Crypto and the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint was an early sign of cooperation ahead of the planned MoU and the January harmonization event.
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