The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is embracing artificial intelligence and automation to tackle its expanding responsibilities, according to Chairman Mike Selig's congressional testimony, despite a significant decline in the agency's workforce under the Trump administration.
Since 2025, about a quarter of the CFTC's staff has departed, due to President Trump's demands for federal workforce cuts. However, the agency is now tasked with overseeing the rapidly growing cryptocurrency and prediction markets. Selig emphasized that AI tools, such as Microsoft's Copilot, are being utilized to enhance surveillance and investigations, allowing the agency to operate more efficiently.
When questioned about staff reductions, Selig assured lawmakers that the CFTC is 'running more efficiently and effectively.' Committee Chairman Glenn 'GT' Thompson expressed concerns about the agency's ability to handle its growing responsibilities, particularly with regards to digital assets and prediction markets. Selig confirmed that proper market enforcement is a top priority, although the CFTC's budget request for the upcoming year only includes three additional enforcement staff members. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, currently being worked on by the Senate, would grant the CFTC a central role in regulating non-securities crypto trading, including transactions involving bitcoin and Ethereum. The agency is also asserting its jurisdiction over prediction markets, such as Polymarket and Kalshi, which have experienced significant growth.
Selig acknowledged 'numerous ongoing investigations' in prediction markets, but did not provide further details. He emphasized the importance of regulated platforms in preventing insider trading, fraud, and market manipulation, while the CFTC serves as a secondary line of defense. Representative Angie Craig argued that the agency's workforce is overstretched, particularly given its role as the primary regulator of two rapidly growing and volatile markets.
Craig stressed the need for the CFTC to receive adequate staffing, funding, and statutory authority to effectively perform its duties. The regulator's personnel declines include the commission itself, which is supposed to have five members but currently only has Selig. The chairman was questioned about proceeding with major rules as a one-person commission, to which he responded that he cannot slow down the rulemaking process for the sake of the American people.