CFTC Digital Asset Primer

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today released a Digital Assets Primer to provide updated information to the public about emerging concepts in digital assets. The primer is part of a series issued by the CFTC’s innovation office, LabCFTC, and is the second to delve into issues surrounding digital assets.

This Digital Asset Primer builds on LabCFTC’s 2017 Primer on Virtual Currencies, which focused on virtual currencies like bitcoin. The focus of this Digital Asset Primer is broader to include not only virtual currency, but also smart contracts and other digitized representations of value or ownership.

Digital assets have a varied set of features and applications that touch a range of regulatory domains, including that of the CFTC. The Digital Asset Primer identifies areas and topics for further consideration, including the governance of digital assets and the appropriate role of regulatory authorities like the CFTC.