As part of the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report recommendations, the CFTC announced an initiative to list spot crypto asset contracts on CFTC regulated exchanges.

The CFTC has no legal authority to impose customer or trading protections for spot transactions on futures exchanges. Therefore, allowing spot trading on these platforms could induce retail customers to trade while not offering meaningful protections. Any regulatory or enforcement authority by the CFTC would be surely voluntary on the part of market participants.

The Administration fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the release of economic data showing a slowdown in job growth, potentially signaling a weakening economy. The White House defended the decision on claims the data was manipulated for political purposes, but as Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis bluntly stated, “The statistics are what they are… It’s not the statistician’s fault if the numbers are accurate and that they’re not what the president had hoped for.”

Independent statistical agencies like the BLS collect and publish economic information that directly impacts American consumers and workers by informing federal and state policymakers and guiding business decisions in hiring and investment. Politicizing statistical data means that consumers, businesses, and the government cannot trust the data. This will distort economic policy decisions, misguide private-sector planning, and ultimately harm everyday Americans.

The SEC voted to permit in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs). The ability of firms to create and redeem shares of crypto ETPs using crypto, rather than cash, further entangles the traditional financial system with the risks of crypto.

The SEC asked the Eighth Circuit to rule on the challenge to the climate risk disclosure rule. The SEC is seeking to have the court overturn the rule so that it does not have to solicit public input in order to withdraw the rule.

Following Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” the Trump Administration calls for the removal of red tape and onerous regulation related to AI.

While it is true that innovative AI can improve and strengthen the banking industry and benefit consumers, AI also brings an array of threats. For example, Sam Altman recently warned that AI may bring a “significant impending fraud crisis” to the banking sector because of its ability to evade current fraud detection systems.

The Trump Administration is ignoring such warnings with its rollout of a comprehensive AI plan centered on deregulation. This action directly contradicts the U.S. Treasury report, which Better Markets supported, that presented a balanced view of AI’s uses, opportunities, and risks throughout the financial services industry.

This proposal could address existing weaknesses with the Supervision Appeals Review Committee, including the fact that current members (FDIC Board members and their deputies) may not have direct supervisory experience or adequate time to devote to considering bank appeals. However, giving former bankers with no direct supervisory experience the authority to decide supervisory appeals presents a potentially serious conflict of interest.