Senate Bipartisan Draft Would Establish New Federal Regime for Digital Commodity Markets

At a Glance

• We provide an overview of key features of the draft of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA).
• See our “Digital Commodity Feature-Mapping Matrix” to help determine whether a tokenized carbon credit — or any other digital asset — may be considered a digital commodity under the draft.
• Depending on product design and trading structure, the application of this draft could apply to a broad range of digital assets — including certain tokenized environmental commodities. Market participants, platforms, custodians and technology providers should assess how their products align with the draft bill’s definitions, exclusions and registration requirements.
• This is a discussion draft, so elements of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act could be expanded, contracted or otherwise change before enactment, assuming that occurs.

On November 10, 2025, Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) released a bipartisan discussion draft of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), proposing extensive amendments to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). If enacted in this draft form, the DCCPA would create a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital commodities, digital commodity exchanges, digital commodity brokers, digital commodity dealers and digital commodity custodians. The draft introduces new definitions — including “digital commodity,” “digital asset,” “digital commodity broker,” “digital commodity dealer,” “digital commodity exchange” and “qualified digital commodity custodian” — and would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) authority over certain cash and spot market digital asset activities. Although the draft does not apply CFTC jurisdiction to payments via permitted payment stablecoins or issuance under the GENIUS Act, it does preserve the CFTC’s existing jurisdiction over swaps, while layering on a new registration and compliance regime for entities engaged in cash or spot digital commodity activities.

Under the draft, a digital commodity is defined as a fungible digital asset that can be exclusively possessed and transferred person-to-person without necessary reliance on an intermediary and is recorded on a cryptographically secured public distributed ledger. The definition expressly excludes securities, permitted payment stablecoins, pooled investment vehicles, banking deposits, and certain commodity derivative products. The draft includes “rules of construction” clarifying that voting rights, economic rights or the potential for price appreciation in a token do not alone convert a digital asset into a security, and it also clarifies that meme-based or trend-based fungible tokens may qualify as digital commodities. If a product meets this definition — and depending on how, where and by whom it is traded — it may fall within the bill’s proposed digital commodity regulatory framework.

The draft would require digital commodity exchanges, brokers and dealers to register with the CFTC and, where applicable, the National Futures Association. Registered entities would be subject to core principles addressing market integrity, customer protection, custody and segregation of assets, financial resources, cybersecurity and system safeguards, conflicts of interest, disclosures, marketing standards, recordkeeping, and reporting. Exchanges would also be required to list digital commodities only if they are not readily susceptible to manipulation and if the exchange has procedures to verify key technical information (e.g., source code, transaction history, economics, volume and volatility). Digital commodity brokers and dealers would face capital, reporting, business-conduct and anti-fraud obligations, along with requirements for the custody of customer assets exclusively with “qualified digital commodity custodians.”

Given market uncertainty about how the draft could apply to tokenized or digitized nonfinancial environmental commodities such as carbon credits, it is important for participants to examine each token’s characteristics. The draft does not specifically address environmental attributes; instead, it applies a functional definition that depends on the features of the digital representation and the market structure supporting its transfer. As a practical matter, determining whether a tokenized carbon credit — or any other digital asset — may be considered a digital commodity under the draft requires analyzing the following features:

Digital Commodity Feature-Mapping Matrix

Conclusion

The regulation of digital commodities has been a priority of Congress and this administration. In July 2025, the House passed the CLARITY Act, addressing many of these same issues. Given his role as Chair Boozman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, we expect to see legislative hearings and a markup this Congress. The Boozman-Booker discussion draft reflects a significant step toward a federal regime for digital-commodity spot markets and derivatives markets. Depending on product design and trading structure, the application of this draft could apply to a broad range of digital assets — including certain tokenized environmental commodities. Market participants, platforms, custodians and technology providers should assess how their products align with the draft bill’s definitions, exclusions and registration requirements. However, this is a discussion draft, so elements of the DCCPA could be expanded, contracted or otherwise change before enactment, assuming that occurs.

For More Information

For further information, you may contact the authors.