Just one day after Mike Selig’s confirmation hearing to become the next chairman of President Donald Trump’s U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced his name toward a final vote by the Senate at large, bringing him that much closer to being a major regulator of the crypto industry.
Nominee Selig, a senior official who works on crypto policy at the Securities and Exchange Commission, will wait for that final confirmation vote before he can be sworn in to lead the U.S. commodities watchdog. In that role, Selig is likely to lead U.S. oversight of much of the digital assets sector, especially as Congress continues to work on legislation to increase the agency’s powers.
“This is a critical moment for the CFTC as Congress considers expanding the agency’s authority,” said committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Arkansas. “Strong leadership is essential to implementing new policies and responsibilities. Michael Selig is the right person to achieve that balance.”
Selig had been Trump’s second choice to lead the agency after he abandoned the nomination of former CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz, who was openly criticized by a top crypto executive close to the president: Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss. But Quintenz did not reach this last stage of the process.
As an SEC attorney, Selig has been at the center of work on the agency’s Project Crypto, which aims to establish friendly policies to foster the crypto industry. He spoke often about digital assets in his confirmation hearing, saying it will be a “critical mission” at the CFTC to establish appropriate policies.
“This is a great signal for the industry and the US regulatory system, not only for having a digital asset expert leading the CFTC’s efforts on several fronts, but specifically for informing ongoing legislative debates over market structure,” Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said in a statement.
The CFTC’s own “crypto sprint” instituted by Acting Chairwoman Caroline Pham has been running in parallel with the SEC’s crypto efforts. Pham has pushed a series of policies that would fall into Selig’s hands if he is confirmed.
