President Donald Trump has selected Michael Selig, chief counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto task force, to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The nomination, first reported by Bloomberg, requires Senate confirmation and marks Trump's second attempt to fill the role. Selig has worked to align SEC and CFTC approaches on finance and crypto oversight.
President Donald Trump has chosen Michael Selig to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to an administration official who spoke anonymously on personnel matters. Selig currently serves as chief counsel for the SEC's crypto task force and as an aide to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. In this role, he has been instrumental in coordinating regulatory strategies between the SEC and CFTC for financial markets and the cryptocurrency industry.
This nomination follows the stalled bid for Brian Quintenz, a16z crypto's global policy chief, which faced opposition from Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss. Prior to joining the SEC, Selig was a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, specializing in asset management. The CFTC oversees futures, swaps, and prediction markets, and its role is expanding amid congressional efforts on crypto market structure legislation.
The selection aligns with Trump's growing support for cryptocurrency. Recently, he granted a full pardon to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, describing his prior prosecution as part of a "war on cryptocurrency." Separately, momentum for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, has accelerated. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated the industry is "90%" toward passage, after productive meetings with senators including Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cynthia Lummis, and Tim Scott.
The bill, which passed the House in July with a bipartisan 294–137 vote, seeks to clarify jurisdiction over digital assets between the SEC and CFTC, while addressing rules for decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, and custody services. Key disputes involve DeFi regulation and stablecoin rewards. Senator Lummis expects the legislation to reach Trump's desk before year-end, despite a partial government shutdown.
