Crypto Advocates Considered For CFTC Leadership

According to CoinDesk, two women with strong pro-crypto backgrounds are being considered to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly evaluating Perianne Boring and Caroline Pham for the position, which could position the CFTC as a key regulator for digital assets under his administration. Perianne Boring has been a vocal advocate for the bitcoin mining industry, criticizing what she perceives as excessive regulatory measures. In a recent op-ed for CoinDesk, she challenged the Department of Energy's data collection practices, accusing them of unfairly targeting bitcoin miners under the pretense of emergency actions. Boring has also criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for what she describes as "backdoor rulemaking," as it attempts to classify various cryptocurrencies as securities. Despite these strong positions, Boring did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment. Caroline Pham, another potential candidate, currently serves as a commissioner at the CFTC, having been appointed by Republicans. She leads the Commission's Global Markets Advisory Committee and has been proactive in proposing regulatory frameworks for digital assets. In 2023, Pham suggested a "time-limited" pilot program to regulate digital asset markets and tokenization, aiming to create a principles-based framework to manage innovation and risk. She has advocated for increased international regulatory cooperation and has encouraged the SEC and CFTC to hold joint discussions to improve regulatory clarity. Additionally, Summer Mersinger has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the CFTC leadership, as reported by Reuters in mid-November. The decision on who will lead the CFTC could significantly influence the regulatory landscape for digital assets in the coming years.