The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leveraging artificial intelligence and automation to address its growing oversight responsibilities, according to Chairman Mike Selig's congressional testimony, despite a significant decline in the agency's workforce under the Trump administration. With about a quarter of the CFTC's staff having left since 2025, the agency is also tasked with regulating the rapidly expanding cryptocurrency and prediction markets.
Selig noted 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 the staff reductions, Selig asserted that the CFTC is running more efficiently and effectively. The agency is prioritizing the enforcement of these markets, with Selig citing 'numerous investigations ongoing' in prediction markets, although he did not provide specifics. The CFTC is also claiming jurisdiction over prediction markets, which have grown from millions to billions of dollars in a year.
The agency's budget request for the next year includes only three additional enforcement staff, which is still short of the 140 personnel the division had in 2025. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, currently being worked on by the Senate, would elevate the CFTC's role in overseeing non-securities crypto trading. Selig's predecessor had argued that the agency required more personnel to effectively oversee crypto and prediction markets. During Selig's tenure, the prediction markets have faced accusations of insider trading, with some cases being addressed by the firms themselves.
The chairman acknowledged the potential for insider trading and emphasized the regulated platforms' role as the first line of defense against illicit activities, with the CFTC serving as a second line of defense. The agency has a 'zero tolerance' policy for market manipulation and fraud. However, Representative Angie Craig argued that the agency's workforce is stretched too thin, particularly given its role as the primary regulator of the rapidly growing and volatile crypto and prediction markets.
Craig emphasized the need for the CFTC to receive adequate staffing, funding, and statutory authority to effectively perform its duties. The personnel declines at the regulator include the commission itself, which is supposed to have five members but has been left with only Selig.
The chairman was questioned about proceeding with major rules as a one-person commission and stated that he would not slow down the rulemaking process. The CFTC is pursuing a preliminary rule process to establish guardrails for US prediction markets, and Selig has also pushed policy initiatives in crypto.
Committee Chairman Glenn 'GT' Thompson and Representative Craig plan to send a letter to the White House to encourage the prompt filling of commissioner positions with CFTC nominees from both parties.