SEC and CFTC Plan January 27 Event to Harmonize U.S. Crypto Regulation

Highlights:

• The SEC and CFTC are planning talks to align crypto oversight amid ongoing regulatory confusion.
• U.S. regulators are pushing crypto coordination as Congress delays market structure legislation.
• Industry divisions and policy delays have clouded U.S. crypto rulemaking.

The CFTC and SEC will hold a joint public session on January 27 as pressure grows to clarify U.S. crypto oversight. Both agencies confirmed the event will take place at the CFTC headquarters in Washington. The discussion will run for one hour starting at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Officials said the session will also be livestreamed on both agencies’ websites.

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🚨NEW: Next week, I’ll be moderating a discussion with SEC Chair @SECPaulSAtkins and CFTC Chair @ChairmanSelig on the agencies’ crypto harmonization plans.

Tune in at 10AM next Tuesday live on the CFTC website! pic.twitter.com/Oeh8MEdjKt

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) January 22, 2026

Regulators plan to use the event to address long-standing coordination gaps affecting crypto firms. Overlapping oversight has created uncertainty for exchanges and digital asset service providers. Companies often struggle to determine whether products fall under securities or commodities rules. Officials said the lack of clarity has increased compliance costs and slowed market development.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins will introduce the session, while CFTC Chairman Michael Selig will deliver opening remarks. Both leaders will then participate in a moderated discussion led by crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett. The conversation will focus on how the agencies can align their approaches. Officials said coordination could reduce confusion without limiting enforcement authority.

I'm looking forward to joining @ChairmanSelig next week at our @SECgov and @CFTC joint event to discuss harmonization between our two agencies.

Together we will discuss our efforts to deliver on President Trump’s promise to make the US the crypto capital of the world.

Join us! https://t.co/qgJwmiHYus

— Paul Atkins (@SECPaulSAtkins) January 22, 2026

Regulators have acknowledged that existing frameworks were built for traditional markets. Those rules rely on jurisdictional models that predate digital assets. As crypto markets expanded, the gap between regulation and market structure widened. Agency officials now argue that closer cooperation can address those gaps under existing law.

SEC and CFTC Plan Talks as Congress Delays Crypto Legislation

This joint hearing comes amid discussion by Congress on the crypto market structure legislation. There is still a dispute between lawmakers on how to establish regulatory authority between agencies. The Senate Agriculture Committee recently published a draft with updates meant to tighten the oversight.

The proposal seeks to curb the overlap in regulatory supervision of digital assets. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, progress has been sluggish. The Senate Banking Committee adjourned the markup of competing crypto bills. Regulators now seem to be ready to proceed without Congress. Agency executives indicated that coordination may help offer interim clarity in the process of lawmaker deliberation.

Crypto Policy Remains Unclear as Lawmakers and Agencies Split

Crypto policy has not been resolved in Washington despite renewed coordination. Congressional committees are still at odds over the scope of enforcement and market definitions. There is also a split between industry leaders as to whether partial legislation provides better conditions.

The split in ideology among crypto executives has delayed the legislative process. Some executives are advocating that the bill should continue despite the flaws that legislators from both parties are debating. Meanwhile, others, such as Coinbase, insist that weak rules may create risks over time.

The former SEC and CFTC leadership have previously conducted joint dialogues on decentralized finance and prediction markets. The meetings indicated the collaboration between the two oversight agencies but did not address the limits of oversight. Michael Selig’s move from the SEC to lead the CFTC has renewed expectations for alignment. He previously worked on crypto policy inside the SEC. At the same time, prediction markets such as Polymarket show that people are betting against the crypto market structure bill passing this year.

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