The Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a staff bulletin alerting to digital asset clearing risks associated with derivatives clearing houses (Dcos).

According to the CFTC's announcement, over the past few years, the DCR has noted that DCO and DCO applicants are interested in expanding the types of clearing products and business scope, clearing models, and services, including those related to digital assets.

The CFTC said the recommendation "reminds registrants and applicants that when expanding its business scope, changing its business model, or offering new products, DCR will continue to be concerned about potential heightened risks that may be associated with certain clearing activities." DCR expects DCO and registrants to proactively identify new, changing or unique risks and to apply targeted risk mitigation measures to address the risks that may arise from changes in these products or clearing structures."

In particular, due to the increasing cyber and other risks associated with digital assets, the DCR will emphasize that DCO applicants and registrants adhere to DCO core principles related to system security, conflicts of interest, and physical delivery.

CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson then called on the commission to begin a formal process to develop new rules.

"We note an increase in registration activity for crypto commodity derivatives clearing and also note that some of the proposed models employ a non-intermediary market structure. Unless we introduce parallel regulatory rules, these crypto derivatives clearing models may not be subject to the strictest regulatory standards." "She said in a statement on Tuesday.