With CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam set to step down soon, market observers believe that President-elect Trump may appoint a pro-crypto candidate again, given that he has been supporting those involved in the cryptocurrency field for regulatory positions.
Meanwhile, there are reports that CFTC Republican Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Caroline Pham are potential candidates for the position of acting chairman.
Another candidate is Brian Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner who advocated innovative approaches during his tenure, including tokenized commodities and decentralized finance, making him a strong contender for the position. Quintenz is currently the director of a16z crypto policy at a16z's digital asset division.
Yesterday, it was reported that CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam will step down on January 20, the day of President-elect Trump's inauguration.
Behnam is concerned that regulation of crypto assets, including Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, remains insufficient. He said: "There is still a large part of the crypto asset space that is unregulated in the U.S. regulatory system. Given the huge demand for these products from retail and institutional investors that we have seen with the adoption of some traditional financial institutions, it is very important to fill this gap. The CFTC is still in a good position to become a spot regulator for crypto commodity assets."