联邦政府正在为加密货币市场敞开大门。10月5日，美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）为美国加密货币交易所敞开了联邦大门。其关于《加密资产交易监管》和《加密资产市场监管》的预先通知，阐明了允许普通客户进行保证金交易、杠杆交易或融资交易的交易所，如何在一套全国统一规则下运营。
The feds are opening a front door for crypto markets On Oct. 5, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened a federal front door for America’s crypto exchanges. Its advance notice on Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets sets out how exchanges that let everyday customers trade crypto on margin, with leverage or financing, could and operate under one national set of rules.
这很重要。目前，大多数美国加密货币交易所是州级逐州取得货币传输商牌照，与兑换支票商和礼品卡销售商属于同一类别。这些牌照监管的是欺诈和洗钱，从未设计用于监管市场、监督有序交易、操纵、利益冲突以及客户资产的安全保管。CFTC的计划将为选择该方案的公司填补这一空白。
That matters. Today most U.S. crypto exchanges are licensed state-by-state as money transmitters, in the same category as check cashers and gift-card sellers. Those licenses police fraud and money laundering. They were never designed to police markets and oversee orderly trading, manipulation, conflicts of interest and the safekeeping of customer assets. The CFTC’s plan would fill that gap for the firms that choose it.
有人会问，鉴于国会未能通过《清晰法案》，该机构是否越权。答案是否定的。CFTC并未声称拥有任何新权力，而是终于为国会在2010年赋予其的权力制定规则。
Some will ask whether the agency is overreaching, given that Congress failed to pass the Clarity Act. It is not. The CFTC is not claiming any new power. It is finally writing rules for a power Congress gave it in 2010.
根据《商品交易法》（由多德-弗兰克法案增加），以杠杆、保证金或融资基础提供的零售商品交易，被视为期货交易。此类交易必须在CFTC注册的交易所进行，除非商品在28天内实际交付。联邦法院已裁定，比特币和其他虚拟货币属于该法案下的商品。
Under the Commodity Exchange Act, added by Dodd-Frank, retail commodity trades offered on a leveraged, margined or financed basis are treated as if they were futures. They must take place on a CFTC-registered exchange unless the commodity is actually delivered within 28 days. Federal courts have held that bitcoin and other virtual currencies are commodities under the act.
CFTC多年来一直针对加密货币公司执行该条款。但它从未做过的事情，是解释公司如何合规。新框架使用相同的法规、相同的交易所核心原则，以及已经规范期货经纪商的相同客户保护措施。它也将仅现货交易所留在国会原本所在的位置：在州法律下，除非它们选择加入。现在法院对法规的解释有更大的自由裁量权，不再盲目服从机构，这种与法条文紧密契合的做法是一项优势。
The CFTC has enforced that provision against crypto firms for years. But what it never did was explain how a firm could comply. The new framework uses the same statute, the same exchange core principles it contains, and the same customer protections that already govern futures brokers. It also leaves spot-only exchanges where Congress left them: under state law, unless they opt in. Now that courts have more leeway to read statutes for themselves rather than deferring to agencies, that close fit to the text is a strength.
政策论据同样充分。首先，它保护普通投资者。交易所必须证明其上市的代币不易被操纵，需要考量谁持有供应量、内部人员的代币何时解锁，以及是否会铸造新代币或回购代币。
The policy case is just as strong. First, it protects ordinary investors. Exchanges would have to show that the tokens they list are not easily manipulated, weighing who holds the supply, when insiders’ tokens unlock, and whether new tokens are minted or bought back.
客户资金将由受监管的经纪商处理，需遵守资本、隔离、披露和反洗钱规则。将客户加密货币存放在一个共用账户中的交易所，可能被要求证明其手头有足够资产偿还所有人。
Customer money would be handled by regulated brokers, subject to capital, segregation, disclosure and anti-money-laundering rules. Exchanges that hold customers’ crypto in one pooled account could be required to show they have enough on hand to pay everyone back.
请记住：当FTX倒闭时，其受CFTC监管的子公司中的客户资金保持安全。其州许可的美国分支机构却未提供此类保护。
Remember: When FTX collapsed, customer funds at its CFTC-regulated subsidiary stayed safe. Its state-licensed U.S. arm offered no such protection.
第二，这项CFTC行动将业务带回本土。正如我在新书中所讲述的，多年来“以执法代替监管”将建设者和资本推向海外。一条清晰、可行的注册路径将在其引导下，让他们回归美国规则和美国监管之下。
Second, this CFTC action brings the business home. As I recount in my new book, years of regulation-by-enforcement pushed builders and capital offshore. A clear, workable path to registration invites them back under American rules and American oversight.
第三，它尊重选择。如同我们的双重银行体系，公司可以根据其提供的服务，选择州许可或联邦注册。并且，通过确认在28天内将资产交付至客户自身钱包算作“实际交付”，CFTC为自托管和链上金融留下了空间。
Third, it respects choice. As in our dual banking system, a firm can pick a state license or a federal registration based on what it offers. And by confirming that delivery to a customer’s own wallet within 28 days counts as “actual delivery,” the CFTC leaves room for self-custody and onchain finance.
这一切都不能取代立法。只有国会才能要求每家加密货币交易所进行联邦注册，国会仍应采取行动。但缺乏新法律，绝不能成为在现有法律下缺乏清晰规则的借口。
None of this replaces legislation. Only Congress can require every crypto exchange to federally, and it should still act to do so. But the lack of a new law is no excuse for a lack of clear rules under the laws we already have.
2018年，我曾在参议院表示，我们欠新一代加密货币爱好者一个深思熟虑且平衡的回应，而非轻率的回应。周一的提案正是该回应。这是一个初步步骤，细节将至关重要。交易所、投资者和建设者应利用公众意见征询期，帮助CFTC将其做好。
In 2018, I told the Senate that we owed a new generation of crypto enthusiasts a thoughtful and balanced response, not a dismissive one. Monday’s proposal is that response. It is an early step, and the details will matter. Exchanges, investors and builders should use the comment period to help the CFTC get them right.
詹卡洛曾担任美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）第13任主席。他是即将出版的新书《加密货币之父的新冒险：21世纪的金融自由之旅》的作者。现任CFTC主席迈克尔·塞利格曾在詹卡洛手下担任书记员，也是他在私人律师执业时期的前同事。
Mr. Giancarlo served as the 13th chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He is the author of the forthcoming book “The New Adventures of CryptoDad: the Quest for Financial Freedom in the 21st Century.”Current CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, who once clerked for Giancarlo, is a former colleague of his in private law practice.