Author: Michelle Price
(Reuters) – Republican Caroline Pham, who was appointed by President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday as acting chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, promised constructive cooperation with all stakeholders.
“I am humbled to lead the CFTC as Acting Chairman. It is an honor to be entrusted to serve the American people during this crucial time,” she said in a statement.
“I look forward to working with all stakeholders in this new capacity as we focus on the CFTC’s mission to promote well-functioning markets that support economic growth and the competitiveness of the United States.”
One of the agency’s five politically appointed commissioners since 2022, Pham has pushed for clearer crypto rules and focused on U.S. competitiveness and proper regulations to promote market liquidity during her tenure at the agency.
Prior to joining the CFTC, Pham was a managing director at Citigroup (NYSE:), where she served in a variety of roles focusing on regulation, market structure and governance, according to her LinkedIn.
She replaces incumbent Democrat Rostin Behnam.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to be a “crypto president” and in December announced that he would make former top PayPal (NASDAQ: ) CEO and crypto evangelist David Sacks his “White House AI & Crypto Car.” The announcement came a day after Trump said he would nominate pro-crypto Washington lawyer Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the CFTC, which oversees commodity derivatives markets, has traditionally been a junior player in financial policy, it is likely to play a more prominent role as the Trump administration begins overhauling cryptocurrency regulations.
The crypto industry is lobbying Congress to create a crypto regulatory framework that would allow the CFTC greater oversight of the industry.
Pham called on the agency to design a program to support the development of digital asset companies, and is expected to work with Sacks and Atkins on a new regulatory framework.
When he voted against the CFTC’s crypto enforcement measure in September, Pham said cracking down on crypto companies instead of providing clarity through new rules only added to the regulatory confusion for the sector.
Pham also advocated for the CFTC to tackle the proliferation of election betting platforms by creating a new regulatory framework that would safely allow contract betting platforms to operate. Currently, the sector operates under a mix of different CFTC exemptions and rules.
