The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced the initial members of its Innovation Task Force on Friday, April 10, naming five senior advisors drawn from both CFTC staff and private-sector practitioners. The ITF is the first U.S. federal regulatory body with an explicit mandate covering “artificial intelligence and autonomous systems” as a primary workstream, according to the CFTC’s official press release.

The task force covers three domains: crypto assets and blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and prediction markets and event contracts. It was formally launched in March with a mandate to develop “clear rules of the road” for innovators building products in U.S. derivatives markets.

The Five Advisors

The initial ITF members, as named by the CFTC, are:

  • Hank Balaban, previously at Latham & Watkins in digital asset and emerging companies law
  • Sam Canavos, formerly a consultant at Patomak Global Partners advising on regulatory matters for innovative technologies
  • Mark Fajfar, transferring from the CFTC’s Office of the General Counsel after 10+ years
  • Eugene Gonzalez IV, previously at Sidley Austin in blockchain and fintech
  • Dina Moussa, moving from the CFTC’s Market Participants Division

The ITF is led by Michael J. Passalacqua, senior adviser to CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig. “The Innovation Task Force brings together a leading team that exhibits deep expertise and an enthusiastic commitment to deliver clear rules of the road for American innovators,” Selig said in the press release.

Why “Autonomous Systems” Is the Key Phrase

The CFTC’s use of “autonomous systems” as an explicit regulatory category is notable. Other U.S. agencies have addressed AI broadly, covering model risk, algorithmic bias, and disclosure requirements. The CFTC is the first to name autonomous systems specifically, which maps directly to AI agents operating as market participants in financial derivatives.

The ITF also launched alongside a new Innovation Tracker on the CFTC website, spotlighting the agency’s initiatives. Passalacqua posted on X that the team “pairs deep CFTC expertise with private-sector experience,” according to PYMNTS.

Regulatory Infrastructure for the Agent Economy

The timing coincides with a wave of agent-facing financial products. VALR, the South Africa-based crypto exchange, launched a dedicated AI Service for autonomous agents earlier this week. Coinbase released Upto, a usage-based pricing mechanism for the x402 protocol enabling agent payments. The Agentic Risk Standard, an open-source financial settlement framework for AI agent transaction failures, was published by researchers from Microsoft, Google DeepMind, and Columbia University on April 9.

The CFTC’s ITF gives these products a regulatory counterpart. For builders deploying agents that interact with financial markets, derivatives, or prediction platforms, the rules are now being actively written.