Biden nominates CFTC commissioners for top FDIC and Treasury posts

According to a statement released by the White House on Thursday, President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department for Financial Institutions. Both Democratic CFTC commissioners urged the agency to issue rules or guidelines to protect consumers and address conflicts of interest in the cryptocurrency space. Romero has warned that there is a "contagion risk" in the cryptocurrency market and compared the industry to the 2008 financial crisis. Romero also sponsors the CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee, which voted earlier this year to submit a report to the committee calling for government and industry efforts to understand decentralized finance. Kristin Johnson said last year that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should "immediately develop regulatory provisions on asset custody." The Biden administration is pushing for the first nomination hearing to begin the week of July 8.