Caroline Pham, one of the Republican commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will take over the agency on an interim basis as the administration of President Donald Trump shifts U.S. policy toward a friendlier relationship with digital assets.
The CFTC stands to become a leading federal watchdog for crypto, and Pham confirmed Monday that she’s taking the reins as acting chair at a point of major potential transition for the agency. Most of the early legislative efforts to establish a digital assets roadmap envision the CFTC taking over regulation of crypto spot markets for widely traded tokens such as bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum’s ether (ETH). Those earlier bills are expected to be the foundation of crypto work in the new Congress.
“It is an honor to be entrusted to serve the American people during this pivotal time,” Pham said in a statement. “I want to thank President Trump for his confidence in me, and I’m grateful to my colleagues and the CFTC staff for their support. I’m looking forward to engaging with all stakeholders in this new capacity as we focus on the CFTC’s mission to promote well-functioning markets that support economic growth and the competitiveness of the United States.”
The five-member commission voted to elevate Pham according to the wish of the new president. The agency generally defers on such a pick to the choice of the incoming majority party leadership.
The decision hasn’t yet been officially announced by the agency.
Pham will lead the CFTC until Trump can nominate and the Senate can confirm a permanent selection. It’s unclear whether she will also be a frontrunner for the full chairmanship, though her name is routinely mentioned on the short list for the role.
More: This CFTC Commissioner Doesn’t Believe in ‘Gotcha’ Crypto Regulation
In her tenure at the agency, she’s spent considerable time directing the Global Markets Advisory Committee that she’s led to examine potential approaches to overseeing digital assets. In 2023, she pitched a pilot program for crypto oversight.
Pham had been a senior executive at Citigroup, and she’s said she was responsible for Citi’s crypto portfolio during her time there, in the very early days of the industry.
Outgoing CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam previously announced he would step down from the chairmanship on inauguration day, joining Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who also said he would resign at noon E.T., when Trump was sworn in. Behnam is set to leave his commission seat in February.
The remaining four commissioners at the CFTC include Pham, fellow Republican Summer Mersinger and Democrats Christy Goldsmith Romero and Kristin Johnson.
UPDATE (January 20, 2025, 18:04 UTC): Adds comment from Caroline Pham.
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