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Today we got another expected resignation of a Biden-era Cabinet member: CFTC Chairman Rustin Behnam will step down from his position on Inauguration Day and leave the agency entirely in early February.
Behnam, a Democrat nominated by Donald Trump to serve on the committee in 2017, became acting chairman after the inauguration of President Joe Biden. He was later confirmed by the Senate in December 2021.
Trump is expected to name either Carolyn Pham or Summer Mersinger, both Republican commissioners, as acting chair later this month. He may or may not choose to submit a new nominee for Senate approval.
Names shortlisted to head the derivatives regulator include Jill Somers of consulting firm Potomac Global Partners and Josh Sterling, a law partner at Milbank, according to Reuters.
Former CFTC Commissioner and head of policy at a16z crypto, Brian Quintenz, is also being considered, a person familiar with the matter told Blockworks. Quintenz served on the committee from 2017 to 2021.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), long viewed as a less important player in the financial regulatory landscape, has taken on a more significant role in regulating cryptocurrencies in recent years. Bipartisan efforts, including the FIT21 bill passed by Congress last year, have attempted to give the CFTC more oversight of cryptocurrency markets.
Behnam himself He called To gain more authority from the CFTC, particularly in relation to the fact that, as it currently stands, the agency does not have clear and comprehensive authority over cryptocurrency derivatives markets.
“The evidence is in our enforcement record, and we even point to the SEC’s enforcement record as well,” Behnam said in 2023 during a congressional hearing. “We filed 82 cases over about eight years, and (those) 82 cases (came from) an agency that had no regulatory authority.”
However, the CFTC was part of the 2023 settlement agreement With Binanceresulting in the payment of more than $4 billion, one of the largest penalties ever imposed on companies.
“Binance activities It was undermined The foundation of safe and sound financial markets by intentionally avoiding fundamentals and fundamentals Commitments “It applies to exchanges, while at the same time collecting approximately $1.35 billion in trading fees from US clients,” Behnam said in a statement at the time the settlement was announced.
Pham and Mersinger — both known for their involvement in the cryptocurrency industry in recent years — have dissented from other commissioners regarding cryptocurrency enforcement actions. In September, the two issued statements against the CFTC's $175,000 settlement with Uniswap over an alleged illegal leveraged trading offer.
Mersinger He claimed The case against Uniswap “bears all the hallmarks of what we have come to know as regulation through enforcement.”
Pham noted that, in her opinion, the agency appears to treat cryptocurrency players with a scrutiny that could never be applied to other industries.
"Applying the logic of the CFTC's legal argument, it appears that any trade transaction for a cow, a bushel of oats, or a barrel of oil that includes the word 'financed' and is delivered in 30 days is a violation of the CFTC (commodity laws) and must be executed on a futures exchange," “I am skeptical that the CFTC will attempt to enforce these legal provisions outside of DeFi,” Pham wrote.
Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to our request for comment on Behnam's resignation.
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