US Senate confirms pro-crypto Selig to lead CFTC, Hill to head FDIC

The US Senate has confirmed crypto-friendly lawyer Mike Selig as the new chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and has elevated Travis Hill to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The two confirmations were included in a package of nearly 100 other nominees that the Trump administration had selected for various roles across the government, which passed the Senate in a 53-43 vote on Thursday.

Selig, who has previous experience at the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, pledged to make crypto a priority when he was nominated in October after he was picked to take over from the previous nominee, Brian Quintenz.

Meanwhile, Hill has already been running the FDIC as the acting chairman and has also expressed a friendly stance toward crypto.

He has also spoken out at Congressional hearings about the alleged debanking of companies due to crypto ties.

Source: Senate Cloakroom 

The CFTC could soon receive more specific crypto authority, with measures like the bipartisan Senate bill introduced in November, which hopes to shift primary crypto market oversight to the CFTC.

The FDIC is poised to regulate stablecoin issuers and will have a hand in how the crypto industry is banked.

Selig in charge until 2029, Hill until 2030

Selig’s term will expire in April 2029. Once sworn in, he will take over from CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham, who had planned to leave when a new chair was confirmed and join crypto infrastructure provider MoonPay.

Selig will remain as the sole commissioner of the normally five-member commission, after a series of resignations earlier in the year left Pham as the only commissioner still serving on the CFTC.

Hill will lead the agency for the next five years. Martin Gruenberg, the previous Senate-confirmed FDIC chair, resigned in January as part of the outgoing administration of former President Joe Biden.

Industry positive about crypto’s future regulation

The news of crypto-friendly leaders at the helm of two major regulators has been met with positivity in the industry. 

Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer at crypto exchange Coinbase, said in an X post that Selig’s “experience in crypto and as a federal regulator will ensure that America’s crypto market is governed with fairness, clarity and an abiding commitment to the law.”

Source: Faryar Shirzad

Cody Carbone, CEO of crypto industry advocacy group Digital Chamber, said the US Senate’s confirmation of Selig is an exciting new chapter, given “his track record as a member and a lawyer digging into the complex, technical issues around digital assets.”