At an Oct. 28 forum, Michael S. Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), raised questions about how rules apply to software trading crypto for users and who is accountable for its actions.
Selig used a household appliance that puts Ether staking rewards toward groceries to raise questions about developer registration, responsibility for an agent’s actions and how regulators could identify the customer behind its trades.
Selig said the current framework assumes regulators can identify each market participant and the financial role it performs. He said autonomous agents complicate that model by holding assets and trading on users’ behalf.
The CFTC had scheduled an agent-focused session on how such programs fit into trading arrangements and which rules might apply when they act for market participants, as an earlier preview of the forum agenda reported.
Selig said the technology may put institutional-style risk-management tools within reach of smaller traders and businesses. Agents could make unexpected choices as markets shift, and those built on comparable models might trade in correlated ways. Their speed may also complicate market surveillance and risk management.
Selig compared AI’s reach with earlier technologies, including the printing press, steam engine and internet.
