The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Market Participants Division has issued a broadly available no-action position for providers of passive trading software. Subject to specified conditions, staff will not recommend enforcement action solely because qualifying providers do not register as introducing brokers or associated persons when their software facilitates user trading with registered futures commission merchants, introducing brokers and designated contract markets.
The relief expands beyond a single wallet provider
The CFTC says the position is similar to Staff Letter 26-09, issued in March for self-custodial crypto wallet developer Phantom, but is now broadly available to qualifying passive software providers. That makes the September action structurally more important than a company-specific exemption.
This is a staff no-action position, not a blanket deregulation of trading software. It applies only under specified conditions and only to the registration issue described by the CFTC. Providers still need to assess other applicable commodity, securities, anti-money-laundering and consumer-protection requirements.
The policy can reduce one layer of U.S. registration uncertainty for passive interfaces that route users toward regulated derivatives venues without themselves acting like traditional brokers. The March precedent involved a self-custodial crypto wallet, making the broader September position particularly relevant to wallet developers and other software-first access layers around regulated futures markets.
Watch how wallet providers, trading front ends and regulated exchanges use the relief, whether the CFTC publishes additional implementation guidance, and whether other U.S. regulators adopt comparable distinctions between passive software and intermediated financial services. The practical impact will depend on the conditions in Staff Letter 26-25 and how firms structure their products around them.
Affected markets: Crypto · Derivatives