The Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.
Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
U.S. President Donald Trump has picked Michael Selig because the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee’s chair, an administration official and Selig himself stated on Saturday.
Selig is chief counsel for the CFTC’s crypto job drive and has labored with Securities and Alternate Fee Chairman Paul Atkins.
Each Selig and David Sacks, the White Home synthetic intelligence and crypto czar, confirmed the choice in separate posts on X.
Sacks praised Selig as “deeply educated about monetary markets and captivated with modernizing our regulatory strategy with a purpose to preserve America’s competitiveness within the digital asset period.”
Selig, in his X publish, stated he would “work tirelessly to facilitate Nicely-Functioning Commodity Markets, promote Freedom, Competitors and Innovation, and assist the President make the USA the Crypto Capital of the World.”
The CFTC didn’t reply instantly to a request for remark. The selection of Selig for CFTC chair was first reported by Bloomberg Information.
The choose comes because the digital belongings business, which had been dealing with regulatory pressures, takes middle stage underneath the Trump administration with new laws.
The GENIUS Act, handed earlier within the yr, and the CLARITY Act — which goals to ascertain a regulatory framework for digital belongings — have been acquired nicely by buyers within the sector.
Trump has been vocal about his help for cryptocurrency, and had promised in his campaigns to make America the crypto capital of the world if he was elected.
Cryptocurrency has turn out to be a recurring theme within the Trump household’s enterprise empire, together with Reality Social proprietor Trump Media & Know-how Group; DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity tied to the Trump household that holds almost 38% of fairness within the firm that controls crypto enterprise World Liberty Monetary; and meme cash launched by each the president and first woman Melania Trump.
Trump had initially named Brian Quintenz to be the CFTC chair, however his nomination was stalled following opposition by Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of lately listed cryptocurrency alternate Gemini.
Quintenz, a Republican who beforehand was a commissioner on the company, had accused Winklevoss of lobbying the White Home to stall his nomination.
The CFTC is usually led by a bipartisan group of 5 commissioners. The president has traditionally nominated commissioners from each events to serve.
Selig has been with the CFTC since March 2025. He was beforehand a companion at worldwide legislation agency Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
