CFTC turns to AI for crypto registration applications in an effort to offset workforce cuts: report

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leaning into artificial intelligence to review crypto-related registration applications.

In an interview, CFTC Chair Michael Selig told CoinDesk that automation and AI could help the agency review registration applications and help surveil markets. That could take the CFTC from manual document submissions to becoming more efficient, Selig said.

“AI tools can be used to review the applications, flag certain things for the staff, make their jobs easier, make it much faster for them to provide feedback and also reject certain things that aren’t materially complete,” he said. “We can see something come in with blank space or inadequate descriptions or things that are clearly wrong, picked up by AI, and it can reject those or put them at the back of the line.”

Selig also said AI could help with staff cuts, as the Trump administration has been pushing to reduce the size of the federal workforce. The CFTC’s enforcement division, in particular, has faced scrutiny after Barron’s reported that the CFTC’s Chicago office had no more enforcement attorneys left after a string of retirements and staff reductions.

Concerns about the agency’s capacity surfaced again on April 16 during a hearing before the House Agriculture Committee, where lawmakers from both parties questioned whether the CFTC has the resources to oversee not only crypto markets — amid ongoing efforts to pass sweeping digital asset legislation — but also prediction markets.

Funding has long been a sticking point. The CFTC’s sister agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, has roughly six times as many staff. Former CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam has repeatedly called for increased funding, as has Brian Quintenz, President Trump’s previous pick to lead the agency.

At the same hearing, Selig said that the agency is “running more efficiently and effectively than ever before,” that the CFTC is hiring more staff, and also using artificial intelligence to surveil.

The agency did not immediately respond to questions about whether AI is being deployed within its enforcement division or about potential risks associated with its use.

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