CFTC Chair: Will Use AI to Participate in Reviewing US Crypto Registration Applications

AIMPACT News, April 28 (UTC+8), the Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Mike Selig, stated that after cutting more than one-fifth of its staff, the CFTC is relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to make up for the staffing shortage. He said that AI and automation can compensate for the workforce gap in the context of President Trump’s efforts to reduce federal personnel. He mentioned that the agency — which is becoming the leading regulator in the U.S. crypto space — is promoting the use of related technologies to review registration applications and even assist in market monitoring. Selig said that the CFTC’s registration process still relies on manual submission of documents, so “we are building systems to automate this, making it much more efficient.” He said, “AI tools can be used to review applications, flag certain issues for staff, make their work easier, speed up their feedback, and reject applications that are clearly incomplete or obviously incorrect. We can see submissions with gaps, insufficient descriptions, or obvious errors, which AI can identify, and AI can reject these applications or put them at the end of the queue.” The chairman has been leading this U.S. derivatives regulator for four months, during which the agency has begun regulating emerging technologies including crypto and prediction markets. However, Selig’s regulatory approach to prediction markets — involving companies like Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Gemini — has sparked controversy. Selig insists that the CFTC is the only relevant regulator for these companies, putting it at odds with state governments challenging these companies over alleged violations of state gambling laws, especially in sports betting. He has sued multiple states, most recently New York, to defend the agency’s “exclusive jurisdiction.” (Source: BlockBeats)