- Donald Trump has officially tapped Mike Selig to lead the CFTC.
- Selig is a longtime crypto ally and serves as general counsel at the SEC's crypto task force.
- The industry cheered the news of his nomination.
US President Donald Trump has nominated crypto ally Mike Selig to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Although a so-called market structure bill has stalled in the Senate, the CFTC is expected to play a critical role overseeing the US crypto industry should lawmakers ultimately strike a deal to overhaul digital asset regulation.
“I am honored to be nominated by President Trump to serve as the 16th Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” Selig said in a statement on X on Saturday.
“I pledge to work tirelessly to facilitate Well-Functioning Commodity Markets, promote Freedom, Competition and Innovation, and help the President make the United States the Crypto Capital of the World.”
Earlier this month, DL News reported Selig’s nomination was imminent. Bloomberg was first to report that Selig’s nomination had been made official.
The crypto industry cheered confirmation of Selig’s nomination over the weekend.
“His work at the CFTC, SEC, and in private practice gives him a rare perspective on markets, consumer protection, and technology — key to ensuring clarity, stability, and the golden age for innovation and financial markets in the U.S.,” Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Kim wrote on X.
Selig has served as chief counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force since March. He is also an advisor to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who has committed to a pro-crypto agenda in an effort to bring equities markets onchain.
Previously, Selig was a partner at corporate law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he was a vocal crypto supporter and critic of Biden-era SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
While the SEC regulates securities such as stocks and bonds, the CFTC is charged with regulating futures for commodities such as oil and wheat.
A so-called market structure bill making its way through Congress would largely hand regulation of the crypto industry to the CFTC.
But the agency has been short-staffed for months. While it typically features one chair and four commissioners, it has been led single-handedly on an interim basis since September 3.
Trump’s former pick, Brian Quintenz, saw his nomination scuttled by twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of the Gemini crypto exchange.
Quintenz is the head of policy at the crypto arm of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Although he received broad support from the crypto industry when he was first nominated, he lost favour with the Winklevoss twins after he failed to promise .
In a bid to salvage his nomination, Quintenz took the remarkable step of publicly sharing screenshots of text messages he said he received from the Winklevoss twins.
In those messages, they complained about a seven-year CFTC investigation targeting Gemini that ended with a $5 million consent order earlier this year.
Quintenz said in the messages that he would commit to a “fair and reasonable review of the matter” as CFTC chair. But he left any “solutions” to a “fully confirmed chair.”
“Our complaint raises serious questions and concerns about the culture of the agency that you are about to chair,” Tyler Winklevoss wrote in response, according to the screenshots.
“Cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority. I’d like to understand your thoughts on this and how you plan to align with President Trump and the Administration’s mandate to end the lawfare and make amends for it.”
On X, Quintenz said the texts “make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise.”
Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. You can reach him at aleks@dlnews.com.
