CFTC to double the frequency of its Commitments of Traders report by year-end
The CFTC says it will publish its Commitments of Traders report twice a week instead of once by the end of 2026, cutting data latency from three days to two.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on October 27 that it will begin publishing its Commitments of Traders (COT) report twice a week, up from once, by the end of 2026. The change cuts the lag between when positions are recorded and when the public sees them from three days to two.
Under the new schedule, data collected on Monday will post on Wednesday, and data from Wednesday will post on Friday — both at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the CFTC's announcement (release 9316-26). The agency's Division of Data is handling the rollout, which it says relies on "modernization and automation" to keep the faster cadence accurate.
The COT report is a long-running CFTC dataset that breaks down open positions across futures markets by trader category. The agency frames this move as a response to its recent Request for Comment and to "feedback from the agricultural community," and the release repeatedly situates the change in agricultural markets. CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig, quoted in the announcement, called COT reports "an important source of transparency for decades" and said the goal is "to ensure this information stream is as useful as possible."
The CFTC gave no firm launch date beyond "by the end of 2026," and did not detail which specific contract markets the semiweekly schedule will cover first or what the automation work involves.
Key facts
- Publication frequency rising from once to twice weekly, by end of 2026 — CFTC release 9316-26, Oct. 27, 2026.
- Monday data publishes Wednesday; Wednesday data publishes Friday; both at 3:30 p.m. ET — CFTC.
- Data latency falls from three days to two — CFTC.
- Change follows a recent CFTC Request for Comment and feedback cited as coming from "the agricultural community" — CFTC.
- Implementation led by the CFTC's Division of Data via "modernization and automation" — CFTC.
The real-world read
This is a procedural transparency upgrade, not a market event, and the CFTC's own framing is squarely about agricultural futures — not crypto. Readers watching CFTC-regulated digital-asset derivatives shouldn't assume the faster cadence lands on bitcoin or ether futures first; the announcement names no markets and commits only to "by the end of 2026," a soft deadline with no date attached. The agency also leans on "modernization and automation" to square faster releases with accuracy — a reasonable aim, but one with no published detail behind it yet, so whether the two-day cadence holds in practice is unproven. One useful note on sourcing: this comes straight from the regulator's own press release, so it reflects the CFTC's account of its plans, not an independently verified rollout.
Opinion, and whose
The only characterization offered is the CFTC's. Chairman Selig says more frequent reporting will make the data "as useful as possible" — his assessment, not a measured outcome.
Sources
- CFTC, Press Release 9316-26, "CFTC Announces Semiweekly Publication of the COT Report," Oct. 27, 2026 — primary source for the schedule change, timing, latency figures, and the chairman's quote. Official agency announcement; not independently verified reporting.
This is news coverage, not financial advice.