The message goes beyond simple support for crypto. Selig believes blockchain could gradually change how traditional assets are traded, settled and used as collateral. Stocks, bonds, commodities and other financial instruments could all be affected. He even compares the transition to the shift from traditional trading floors to electronic platforms.
The CFTC is not starting from scratch. It has already published a framework for markets seeking to operate 24/7, authorized certain forms of digital collateral and paved the way for regulated Bitcoin perpetual contracts in the United States. Part of the architecture of crypto markets is therefore beginning to spill over—technically speaking—into traditional finance.
The CFTC is now talking about “mass tokenization”
The choice of words is unusually direct. In his official speech on September 22, Selig said regulators must prepare markets for “mass tokenization,” adapt legacy frameworks to blockchain and artificial intelligence, and prepare financial firms for a world combining on-chain finance with markets available around the clock. However, he clarified at the beginning of his remarks that these views were his own as chairman and did not necessarily represent the formal position of the Commission as a whole.
This direction echoes what BrefCrypto had already observed with BlackRock, JPMorgan and Wall Street tokenization. The issue is no longer simply creating a token representing a bond or a stock. It is about rethinking the infrastructure behind the market.
Selig notably cites near-instant settlement and the ability to move collateral in real time between clearinghouses, intermediaries and users.
Today, a financial transaction may involve multiple systems, intermediaries, settlement windows and capital lockups. A tokenized asset could theoretically move across a programmable infrastructure with far fewer breaks between the different stages.
The CFTC is not saying that this entire transformation has already taken place. Selig instead presents tokenization as an architecture that the regulator must now be able to accommodate at scale.
Markets open 24 hours a day
Bitcoin never closes.
Wall Street does.
This difference could gradually narrow in certain markets. Selig notes growing demand for trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure available 24/7, particularly because investors now operate across all time zones and digital technologies technically allow continuous operation.
The CFTC is already working on the issue. On May 29, its staff published a specific notice on 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement for registered markets, clearinghouses and intermediaries seeking to extend their operations continuously.
However, the document includes an important qualification: not all markets are necessarily equally suited to 24/7 operation.
Crypto derivatives are considered particularly well suited because of their digital infrastructure and global reach. Certain agricultural markets serve different use cases, client bases and hedging needs.
The regulator is therefore not simply proposing to keep every U.S. exchange open day and night.
It is seeking to determine which markets can genuinely operate under this model without weakening risk management, oversight, clearing systems or operational resilience.
And crypto is already providing a real-world laboratory.
Bitcoin has already brought perpetuals to the United States
The transformation is further advanced than it may appear.
On May 29, 2026, the CFTC approved the listing of a genuine Bitcoin perpetual contract on KalshiEX. Unlike a traditional futures contract, a perpetual has no fixed expiration date. This type of product developed specifically in crypto markets that operate continuously.
Selig presented the move at the time as a way to bring back to the United States an activity that had largely developed on offshore platforms.
This step is interesting because it partly reverses the usual story.
For several years, traditional finance mainly sought to adapt Bitcoin to its own instruments: futures with expiration dates, ETFs and institutional custody.
Now, some innovations born or popularized in crypto are moving in the opposite direction.
Perpetuals are one example.
24/7 operation is another.
On-chain settlement could be the next.
This does not mean that all the mechanisms used on crypto exchanges will be transplanted to Wall Street. Requirements around margin, oversight, operational continuity and customer protection will remain different.
The CFTC is specifically seeking to build this regulatory bridge rather than blindly copy the offshore ecosystem.
Stablecoins are becoming financial collateral
The second component of this architecture concerns stablecoins.
They are no longer used solely by traders moving from Bitcoin to USDT or USDC. The CFTC is now working on their use in regulated derivatives markets.
In February 2026, Commission staff expanded a no-action position allowing Futures Commission Merchants, under certain conditions, to accept certain digital assets not considered securities as collateral. The definition of eligible payment stablecoins was notably expanded to include those issued by certain national trust banks.
The movement began as early as September 2025 with a specific initiative devoted to tokenized collateral, particularly stablecoins.
This changes their economic function.
A stablecoin is no longer used only to transfer a digital dollar from one wallet to another. It can become a component of collateral management, used to secure positions in regulated markets.
This is precisely one of the areas where stablecoins could move beyond their historic role in crypto trading.
For a derivatives market, the ability to move collateral quickly is particularly important. Capital currently locked up during certain processes could theoretically be deployed more efficiently.
Selig presents this real-time mobility as one of the potential benefits of tokenized infrastructure.
The change may appear technical.
In reality, it affects one of finance’s most important functions: where the guarantee is held, who controls it and how quickly it can be mobilized as risk changes.
Blockchain will not simply replace Wall Street
The phrase “the future of finance is on-chain” neatly captures the crypto sector’s enthusiasm, but it is not the exact wording used by Selig.
The CFTC chairman instead speaks of preparing market participants for a world of “onchain finance” and says he believes tokenization could bring a change to different asset classes comparable to the one caused in the past by the shift from open-outcry trading to electronic trading.
The distinction matters.
Tokenizing a bond does not automatically mean eliminating banks.
An on-chain stock remains subject to ownership rights, an issuing company, regulation and market rules.
A clearinghouse can use blockchain infrastructure without becoming an anonymous DeFi protocol.
A bank can use a stablecoin or a tokenized deposit while remaining a regulated bank.
The transformation could therefore be far less visually spectacular than one might imagine.
The back end changes.
Assets become programmable.
Settlement accelerates.
Collateral moves more freely.
The interface used by the investor may remain almost unchanged.
This is already what can be seen in several institutional projects. Nasdaq’s recent investment in Kraken and tokenized stocks also shows that this convergence is advancing. Users do not necessarily handle a seed phrase to benefit from tokenized infrastructure.
Blockchain can sit under the hood.
Not necessarily behind the wheel.
24/7 also means managing risk 24/7
There is also a cost to eliminating market closures.
A market that is always open must be monitored continuously.
Margin systems must operate on Sundays.
Clearinghouses must be able to respond to sudden volatility at 3 a.m.
Intermediaries need teams, continuity systems and liquidity available outside traditional hours.
This is precisely why the CFTC’s notice on 24/7 operation emphasizes existing obligations relating to risk management, customer-fund protection, information systems and business continuity. The text does not create a free pass for continuous markets.
Crypto already knows this reality.
A Bitcoin crash does not ask whether Wall Street is asleep.
A liquidation cascade can start on Saturday.
A stablecoin can face a crisis on Sunday evening.
Extending continuous operation to more markets also means extending this permanent risk-management requirement.
The regulatory challenge is therefore not simply to authorize continuous markets. It also involves ensuring that liquidity, margins, cybersecurity and control teams can keep up without interruption.
Wall Street is preparing to change its infrastructure
Selig is not promising that all U.S. stocks and bonds will move to a public blockchain tomorrow. His speech instead indicates that the regulator wants to have the necessary rules in place before tokenization truly scales up.
The CFTC is therefore preparing less for an instant rupture than for a gradual migration of the financial back end. Assets may remain familiar to investors while their settlement, collateral and part of their movement become programmable.
The most important signal may be found here. Crypto is no longer merely trying to secure a place on Wall Street. Some of its infrastructures are beginning to serve as models for rebuilding Wall Street itself.
