Despite her uncertain tenure and a leadership vacuum at the agency, the acting head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is urgently pushing to modernize crypto regulation and engage with the digital asset industry.
Caroline Pham, the CFTC’s interim chair, announced a swift initiative to create a “CEO Innovation Council.” This advisory group will guide public policy on digital assets and emerging markets.
The nomination period for the council is brief, closing on December 8. Pham emphasized the need for immediate recommendations to address rapidly evolving market segments.
The council is designed to gather leaders who can collaborate with the agency on innovation, regulation, and market resilience. Its focus will include advice on crypto policy and emerging technologies.
Pham is also independently advancing a significant crypto agenda. She supports allowing CFTC-registered platforms to list leveraged cryptocurrency products in the spot market. She believes this action falls within the agency’s legal scope and could enhance U.S. market competitiveness.
Additionally, Pham advocates for adopting tokenized collateral, including stablecoins, to integrate blockchain technology into regulatory processes. She is working on a regulatory initiative to incorporate this technology into existing CFTC rules.
These proposals reflect her goal to modernize the CFTC’s regulatory framework. Her approach consistently seeks to balance innovation with participant protection in financial markets.
The CFTC itself faces administrative uncertainty. The commission currently operates with only one member, Pham, due to a lack of additional confirmations.
The U.S. government has struggled to appoint a permanent chairman. President Donald Trump, who initially proposed Pham for her role, previously withdrew a chairman nomination. More recently, Mike Selig, a senior official from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) focused on crypto policy, was nominated for the role.
The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced Selig’s nomination last week, but a final vote is pending due to the Thanksgiving recess. Pham’s leadership could conclude soon, with reports indicating she may join MoonPay as its chief legal and administrative officer afterward.
The creation of the new advisory body follows a prior forum Pham hosted this year. That event brought together digital asset company CEOs to strengthen communication between the industry and regulators.
The new council aims to expand upon that initial work. It seeks experts in emerging markets, digital infrastructure, and financial regulation.
The agency believes such councils can help anticipate technological shifts and identify risks requiring regulatory intervention. They can also facilitate more informed policy design, especially as innovations like blockchain, stablecoins, and tokenization gain prominence.
The initiative underscores the effort to maintain dynamic and resilient markets. The volatility of digital assets and the growth of new products have fueled debates on balancing innovation, transparency, and investor protection.