On Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) onboarded new members to its Global Markets Advisory Committee and subcommittees. The agency’s Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham named several crypto industry leaders to the Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee (DAMS).
Pham appointed Katherine Minarik, chief legal officer at Uniswaps Labs; Ben Shwerwin, general counsel at Chainlink Labs; Avery Ching, co-founder and chief technology officer at Aptos Labs; and James J. Hill, managing director and head of structure innovation at BYN, as DAMS members. Scott Lucas, head of digital assets at JPMorgan, will join as co-chair of DAMS, along with Sandy Kaul, executive vice president at Franklin Templeton.
Trump eyes additional CFTC chair candidates
Robert Boonij, CEO of Eurex, was appointed a GMAC member, while Laura Fuson, vice president and head of futures at Cboe Global Markets, joined as a GMSS member. Pham is also named Brad Sullivan, COO of ICE Futures, a member of the Technical Issues Subcommittee (TISS).
CFTC Chair acknowledged Caroline Butler’s service as co-chair, recommending her for delivering regulatory clarity with the first-ever U.S. digital asset taxonomy and proposals for tokenized non-cash collateral. Pham also believes that Scott’s experience and deep knowledge of distributed ledger technology and the digital ecosystem will be indispensable to the subcommittee.
“We look forward to working with the Commission and broader industry partners to help shape clear and effective regulatory frameworks in a well-structured digital asset market.”
–Scott Lucas, Head of Markets Digital Assets at JPMorgan.
Kaul also noted the contributions that GMAC and the DAMS provided to support President Donald Trump’s Working Group and introduce the current compliance program. She promised to continue advancing crypto innovation into the mainstream with well-crafted market outlooks, enabling greater efficiencies and opportunities for all investors.
Trump is also eyeing additional candidates to lead the CFTC after the current nominee Brian Quintenz’s confirmation process stalls. The Trump Administration is allegedly looking for government officials working on crypto policy as potential candidates for the role.
Bloomberg reported that the White House is considering Michael Selig, the current chief counsel to the SEC’s crypto task force. Tyler Williams, current counselor to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on crypto policy, has also emerged as a potential candidate.
Cryptopolitan reported earlier that Quintenz’s confirmation process as CFTC chair faced a setback after the White House asked the Senate Agriculture Committee to pause the vote on his nomination. The source revealed that the request came after Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss asked Trump to stop or delay the process for Quintenz’s confirmation.
Quintenz said on September 10 that he believes the President might have been misled. He disclosed messages showing Tyler Winklevoss’s questions regarding his prior litigation with the agency. He added that protecting the President and his agenda are more important than any job, and he was looking forward to continuing to support Trump’s agenda in whatever capacity he can.
CFTC introduces second Crypto Sprint initiative
Pham mentioned that she would resign once the Senate confirms the new chair, with reports indicating that she will be joining crypto firm Moonpay. Meanwhile, she has made several moves in the agency to favor the U.S. crypto industry, including allowing offshore exchanges to serve in the country via the Crypto Sprint initiative.
Pham maintained that the Trump Administration wants to ensure that the immediate trading of digital assets at the Federal level is a top priority. She also called for public input from crypto market participants on how the CFTC can better regulate spot crypto trading via the second Crypto Sprint. Pham argued that the feedback will assist the agency in carefully considering issues for leveraged, margined, or financed retail trading on exchanges.
The first Crypto Sprint initiative was launched earlier this month and aimed at enabling the trading of digital asset contracts on CFTC-registered futures exchanges. The Trump Administration had also previously issued a 166-page report outlining policy recommendations for regulating crypto in the U.S.
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