The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Market Participants Division issued a no-action position: under certain conditions, it does not recommend enforcement actions against passive software providers and their related personnel for not registering as introducing brokers or associated persons.

The position only covers the provision and marketing of such software when connecting users to registered futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, and designated contract markets. Staff letter 26-25, signed by the division head, extends the March letter 26-09 to Phantom Technologies to be generally applicable to qualified entities, noting it is not limited to crypto-related software.

Covered activities include developing and distributing front-end interfaces for users to view market data and positions, browse products, and submit regulated derivatives orders directly to registered entities, including event contracts and perpetual contracts; providers do not actively intervene in specific orders, and the software remains on user devices. User assets must not be held in custody. Conditions such as disclosure and policy procedures must be met.

This move aligns with the SEC's innovation exemption issued on the same day: the futures side opens pathways for software connecting to licensed venues, while the securities side provides a temporary opening for tokenized stock venues. Chairman Selig continues to emphasize advancing access to crypto and prediction markets using existing powers after the market structure bill failed to pass the Senate.

Mechanically, this retracts registration obligations from the interface level back to the licensed intermediary level. Beneficiaries are wallets and market data front-ends, which can direct users to FCMs and contract markets without first obtaining introducing broker licenses; the pressured parties are traditional introducing brokers that rely on licensing barriers to block front-end diversion. Funds and orders remain within the registered clearing chain, with the change being that customer acquisition interfaces do not need to hold licenses themselves.

Source: Public Information