CFTC staff extended relief previously granted to Phantom to eligible passive software providers, including those outside crypto, allowing them to connect users to regulated derivatives markets without registering as introducing brokers. Under Staff Letter 26-25, the agency’s Market Participants Division will not recommend enforcement action over a failure to register by qualifying providers or their relevant personnel, subject to specified conditions.

The relief covers providing and marketing software that lets users access registered futures commission merchants, introducing brokers and designated contract markets, and submit orders directly for CFTC-regulated derivatives, including event contracts and perpetual contracts. The software must not hold user assets, generate explicit buy or sell signals, or exercise discretion over order routing or execution.

The Crypto Council for Innovation welcomed the broader coverage, saying that applying protection to similarly situated developers rather than one firm at a time “puts builders on equal footing and saves staff from processing the same request repeatedly.”