CFTC Chair Mike Selig Says Agency Is Using AI to Speed Up Crypto Registration Reviews After Staff Cuts

April 28 — CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said the U.S. derivatives regulator is turning to artificial intelligence and automation to offset staffing shortages after cutting more than one-fifth of its workforce. Selig said the technology push aligns with President Trump's broader efforts to shrink the federal workforce and is aimed at improving how the agency processes registration filings and conducts market surveillance as the CFTC positions itself as a leading U.S. regulator in the crypto sector. He noted that the current registration workflow relies heavily on manual document submissions. "We are building a system to automate it, making it much more efficient," Selig said. He added that AI tools can review applications, flag issues for staff, accelerate feedback, and reject filings that are clearly incomplete. According to Selig, AI can identify missing information, inadequate descriptions, or obvious errors, allowing the agency to reject submissions outright or move them to the back of the queue. Selig has led the CFTC for four months and has pushed the agency to expand oversight of emerging areas such as cryptocurrencies and prediction markets. His approach to prediction markets—focused on firms including Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Gemini—has drawn controversy, particularly as he argues the CFTC is the sole relevant regulator. That stance has put the agency in conflict with state governments pursuing the companies for alleged violations of state gambling laws, especially tied to sports betting. Selig has sued multiple states to defend the CFTC's "exclusive jurisdiction," most recently New York.