a16z submitted a public comment letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) endorsing the establishment of a regulated compute derivatives market in the United States. The firm argued that such derivatives would enable AI startups and cloud service providers to hedge against compute price, utilization, and tenor risks while reducing financing costs for AI infrastructure. The letter asserted that the CFTC requires no new statutory authority or rulemaking before listing compute derivatives. a16z pointed to the existing Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), Part 38 core principles, and Part 40 self-certification process as sufficient frameworks. It recommended the commission support IOSCO-compliant compute price benchmarks and permit exchanges to launch cash-settled compute futures, including term futures and perpetual contracts. Notably, a16z crypto is an investor in Ornn, whose Compute Price Index (OCPI) underpins ICE's planned GPU compute futures announced in May.