How Does the CFTC’S Surveillance of a Bitcoin Future Differ from the SEC’s Surveillance of a Spot Bitcoin ETF?

The CFTC surveils the regulated futures market, focusing on manipulative trading in the derivative contract itself and the underlying reference price used for settlement. The SEC's surveillance of a spot Bitcoin ETF focuses on the ETF shares and the agreements with the listing exchange to detect fraud and manipulation in the underlying spot Bitcoin market, ensuring the ETF's price is not being manipulated.

The CFTC focuses on the derivative; the SEC focuses on the integrity of the spot asset price.