U.S. commodities firms can invest in tokenized assets, use blockchain records: CFTC
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CFTC staff guidance said futures brokers and clearinghouses can invest customer money in tokenized versions of assets they are already allowed to buy, and registered firms can keep required records on a blockchain. The guidance also said customer funds may go into tokenized versions of already permitted assets when holders have legal and economic rights equivalent to the traditional form.
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What it means
Futures brokers, clearinghouses, and other registered commodities firms are the immediate group affected, because the guidance says they may use tokenized assets for customer funds and keep required records on a blockchain. That means firms operating under CFTC rules now have a path to treat those tools as part of their day-to-day compliance and investment activity.
Before this guidance, the status of tokenized assets and blockchain records was less explicit for these firms; now the permitted uses are spelled out for customer funds and recordkeeping. What stays the same is that the tokenized asset has to stand in for something the firm is already allowed to buy, and the rights attached to the token have to match the traditional asset form. (per crypto-economy.com)
What remains open is how broadly the guidance will be applied in practice and what other details the CFTC may add in later guidance. The open question is not whether the staff released this view, but how firms will fit it into operations once the agency’s fuller framework is available. (per coindesk.com)
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