Policy Share Share this article Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail U.S. CFTC's Pham Moves for Do-Over on 'Actual Policy Share Share this article Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail U.S. CFTC's Pham Moves for Do-Over on 'Actual

U.S. CFTC's Pham Moves for Do-Over on 'Actual Delivery' Guidance on Crypto

Share
Share this article
Copy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail

U.S. CFTC's Pham Moves for Do-Over on 'Actual Delivery' Guidance on Crypto

In what are likely her final days at the agency, the acting chairman checked another box from President Donald Trump's crypto agenda.

By Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Nikhilesh De
Dec 11, 2025, 7:55 p.m.
Caroline Pham, acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has removed a key piece of crypto guidance. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

What to know:

  • One of the leading U.S. regulators for crypto activity, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has scrapped its earlier definition for how assets change hands in a crypto commodities transaction.
  • Acting Chairman Caroline Pham said the earlier guidance on "actual delivery" was withdrawn as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to create friendly crypto policies.

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Caroline Pham has moved again to advance President Donald Trump's crypto agenda by eliminating old guidance on "actual delivery" of crypto commodities that she suggested might get in the way of the next steps.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Sign me up

“Eliminating outdated and overly complex guidance that penalizes the crypto industry and stifles innovation is exactly what the administration has set out to do this year,” said Pham in a Thursday statement.

The guidance, established in 2020 during Trump's first term, had sought to define "actual delivery" of assets during a crypto commodity transaction — a key concept under the Commodity Exchange Act. Law firm Steptoe had sought formal guidance from the CFTC defining the term as it applied to digital assets as far back as 2016. But the President's Working Group report on the administration's digital assets agenda earlier this year recommended that the CFTC should "consider expanding upon prior guidance on 'actual delivery' of virtual assets."

The CFTC needed to cut the original document "in order to reevaluate such guidance in light of further developments during the past 5 years in the means and methods deployed in the spot market for the purchase and sale of virtual currencies," it noted in the withdrawal notice.

Pham has driven a rapid series of crypto policy moves at the agency in the past couple of weeks, even as Trump's nominee to permanently replace her, Mike Selig, is heading toward a potential confirmation as soon as next week.

Read More: The CFTC Just Defined What 'Actual Delivery' of Crypto Should Look Like

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading CommissionCaroline D. PhamDonald TrumpDigital Commodities

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

Commissioned byGoPlus

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
View Full Report

More For You

Do Kwon’s Sentencing Hearing Drags on as Court Weighs Mountain of Victim Testimony

District Judge Paul Engelmeyer offered the Terraform Labs co-founder the chance to postpone his sentencing date, in light of hundreds of victim impact statements shared with the court in the past 24 hours.

Read full story
Latest Crypto News

Coinbase Expands Reach of Stablecoin-Based AI Agent Payments Tool

Do Kwon’s Sentencing Hearing Drags on as Court Weighs Mountain of Victim Testimony

U.S. Senate Rolls Toward Last Vote on Confirming Crypto Regulators at CFTC, FDIC

JPMorgan Pushes Deeper Into Tokenization With Galaxy's Debt Issuance on Solana

Binance Overhauls Stablecoin Trading with Trump-Linked USD1

Top Stories

Binance Overhauls Stablecoin Trading with Trump-Linked USD1

Do Kwon’s Sentencing Hearing Drags on as Court Weighs Mountain of Victim Testimony

Bitcoin Stumbles Back Below $90K as Dollar Sinks to 7-Week Low After Fed Rate Cut

Crypto Trading Volumes Deteriorated Across Board Last Month as Market Slumped: JPMorgan

Crypto Investment Firm Blockstream to Acquire TradFi Hedge Fund Corbiere Capital

U.S. Senate Rolls Toward Last Vote on Confirming Crypto Regulators at CFTC, FDIC

Market Opportunity
Union Logo
Union Price(U)
$0.002976
$0.002976$0.002976
+3.87%
USD
Union (U) Live Price Chart
Disclaimer: The articles reposted on this site are sourced from public platforms and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of MEXC. All rights remain with the original authors. If you believe any content infringes on third-party rights, please contact [email protected] for removal. MEXC makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content and is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. The content does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice, nor should it be considered a recommendation or endorsement by MEXC.