Douro Labs, the core contributor to @PythNetwork, has responded to the @CFTC's request for input on future rules for crypto asset markets. The company's central argument is that when exchanges use outside prices to set margin and trigger liquidations, those prices should be drawn from many sources rather than a single venue.

Multi-Source Pricing and the 2021 Price Gap

The letter cites an episode from 2021, when Bitcoin ($BTC) printed at $8,200 on BinanceUS while trading above $63,000 on other venues. Douro Labs presents the case as an example of the risk of letting one exchange's price decide liquidations.

Douro Labs also asks the agency to evaluate oracles on how they are built, not on whether they appear on a fixed list of approved providers. The company argues that a fixed list would lock in the largest incumbents. Pyth Pro, the price service Douro Labs develops and operates for the $PYTH network, already works on that basis. In a separate CFTC filing, Douro Labs described Pyth Pro as an aggregated reference-price service that computes a single real-time reference price for each supported instrument.

The CFTC Rulemaking Context

The CFTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on October 5, 2026. According to law firm Sidley, the notice outlines a proposed framework for certain retail crypto asset transactions, including Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions (Regulation CTX) and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets (Regulation CAM). The latter contemplates a new subcategory of designated contract market registration for exchanges offering only those transactions.

Liquidations are squarely within the scope of the consultation. Greenberg Traurig noted that the CFTC is seeking input on who should be allowed to provide financing, how margins should be set, what assets should qualify as collateral, and how liquidations should work.

The ANPRM is an early step, not a proposed rule. As one trade report put it, the agency is seeking public comment on a potential framework rather than setting final requirements.

Douro Labs has been an active commenter with US regulators. It previously filed with the CFTC on prediction markets and on 24/7 trading and perpetual derivatives, and in September 2026 it commented on the agency's request on compute derivatives, according to its filing on regulations.gov.

Sources

Sidley: CFTC Seeks Comment on Proposed Federal Framework for Retail Crypto Transactions
National Law Review (Greenberg Traurig): CFTC Seeks Comments on Proposed Framework for Retail Crypto Asset Trading and Markets
Douro Labs comment letter to the CFTC, regulations.gov