After Bitfinex, the CFTC issued its Proposed Interpretation on "Retail Commodity Transactions Involving Virtual Currency." Proposed Interpretation, 82 Fed. Reg. 60335 (CFTC Dec. 20, 2017). Although the comment period closed March 20, 2018, the CFTC has taken no further action on the Proposed Interpretation to date.
The CFTC will assert Commodities Exchange Act regulatory jurisdiction over any "entity or platform [that] offers margin trading or otherwise facilitates the use of margin, leverage or financing arrangements for their retail market participants…." Id. at 60337 ...
In a series of 2015 decisions, the CFTC determined that virtual currency is a commodity subject to its jurisdiction.
In a 2016 settled enforcement action, the CFTC took the position that an unregistered platform administering and providing margin trading contracts in crypto-currencies to non-eligible ("retail") users violated the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act, In the Matter of BFXNA, Inc. d/b/a Bitfinex, No. 16-19 (CFTC Jun 2, 2016), where:
- Bitfinex controlled the keys to the customer and escrow wallets involved in the margin lending.
- Bitfinex used book-entry ...