CFTC Leadership Changes as Mike Selig Takes Over

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has officially changed leadership. Mike Selig took control of the CFTC office after Caroline Pham left the agency on Monday, when Selig was sworn in as the new leader. Pham was the Acting Chair of the CFTC and was replaced by Selig yesterday. 

The CFTC announced that Selig became the agency’s 16^th chairman on Monday, following his nomination by President Donald Trump on October 27^th and the Senate's confirmation of his position late last week. With Pham’s departure, Selig will serve as the commission’s sole commissioner. This is a rare moment for the agency as it prepares for potentially expanded oversight of crypto and other emerging markets. 

Mike Selig Takes Over CFTC as Chairman

Selig’s appointment is applauded by the industry as he is widely viewed as supportive of digital assets. He previously served as chief counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force and has publicly argued against what he described as “regulation by enforcement.” His term as chairman of CFTC will run through April 2029. 

He said, “I’m grateful for the confidence President Trump has placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the CFTC at this pivotal time. We are at a unique moment as a wide range of novel technologies, products, and platforms are emerging, retail participation in the commodity markets is at an all-time high, and Congress is poised to send digital asset market structure legislation to the President’s desk, cementing the US as the Crypto Capital of the World.”

Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, David Sacks, welcomed the appointment, calling Selig and newly appointed SEC chairman Paul Atkins a “dream team” capable of defining clear regulatory guidelines for the digital sector. Pham, who served as acting chair since January and as the commission’s only sitting commissioner since August, had long announced that she would step down once a permanent leader was confirmed. 

Her tenure was marked by an emphasis on encouraging responsible innovation while maintaining market integrity, particularly in crypto-related markets. In her departing remarks, Pham said the CFTC had “refocused on our mandate to promote responsible innovation and fair competition as the CFTC prepares to take on expanded oversight of new markets and new products like digital assets, crypto, and prediction markets.”

Following her departure, crypto payments firm MoonPay confirmed that Pham will join the company, signaling her continued involvement in the digital asset industry even as she leaves public service.