US CFTC Chairman: Will Use AI to Assist in Reviewing US Cryptocurrency Registration Applications

BlockBeats News, April 28th, Mike Selig, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated that after cutting more than a fifth of its staff, the CFTC is relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to make up for the manpower shortage. He mentioned that AI and automation can help bridge the staffing gap in the context of President Trump's federal workforce reduction initiative. He noted that the agency, which is positioning itself as a leading regulatory body in the U.S. crypto space, is pushing for the use of relevant technologies to review registration applications and even assist in market surveillance.

Selig said that the CFTC's registration process currently relies on manual submission of documents, so "we are building a system to automate it, making it much more efficient." He stated, "AI tools can be used to review applications, flag items for staff, make their jobs easier, speed up their feedback, and reject applications that are clearly incomplete. We can see blank spaces, insufficient descriptions, or obvious errors in the submitted content, which AI can identify and reject or place at the end of the queue."

This chairman has been at the helm of the U.S. derivatives regulator for four months, during which time the agency has delved into regulating emerging technologies, including crypto and prediction markets. However, Selig's regulatory layout of the prediction markets—involving companies such as Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Gemini—has sparked controversy. Selig insists that the CFTC is the sole relevant regulator for these companies, putting it at odds with state governments challenging these companies for alleged violations of state gambling laws, especially in the sports betting sector. He has sued multiple states, most recently New York, to defend the agency's "exclusive jurisdiction."