The post CFTC’s Pham Moves to Launch Spot Crypto Trading Without Congress appeared com. The U. S. Congress has long been trying to grant the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more direct authority over crypto spot markets, but the agency is forging ahead without it, and interim chief Caroline Pham is in talks with regulated exchanges to launch spot crypto products as soon as next month, according to people with direct knowledge of the plans. Even during the federal government shutdown that’s otherwise delaying crypto policy efforts in Washington, the people said that Acting Chairman Pham has been meeting personally with multiple financial platforms interested in listing spot crypto contracts. The CFTC is also weighing some further guidance on the how-to of this trading, they said, building on Pham’s public position that the agency has ample legal authority to approach the markets this way. Pham who is eventually set to be replaced by President Donald Trump’s new nominee, SEC crypto official Mike Selig is busy overhauling the CFTC’s internal structure and its enforcement division, and she’s also heading toward a tokenized collateral policy that is expected to emerge by early next year. But the most immediate policy area the agency is pressing forward on is in overseeing the new retail spot products on regulated platforms, done in the absence of a law from Congress. “As we continue to work with Congress on bringing legislative clarity to these markets, we are also using existing authorities to swiftly implement recommendations in the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report,” Pham said in a statement to CoinDesk. “I’m excited about new products that we expect to begin trading in our markets before year’s end, and am working to ensure a smooth transition for President Trump’s nominee for the permanent CFTC chairman.” Spot trading in commodities the immediate trading of actual assets rather than futures, in.