US Senate Confirms Mike Selig as CFTC Chair

The Senate lastly confirmed Mike Selig as CFTC Chair and introduced Travis Hill will lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Senate’s transfer got here roughly every week after a Thursday vote, 53-43, that accepted the decision to arrange a closing vote that may affirm each Selig to the CFTC and Travis Hill to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). According to CoinDesk, Senate Republicans have used an uncommon strategy of grouping dozens of President Trump’s nominees at a time, relatively than approving every individually. Hill and Selig’s approvals are additionally tied with 95 different affirmation questions.

Selig is Mr. Trump’s second nominee for the CFTC chair. He initially nominated Brian Quintenz, the previous CFTC commissioner who labored with enterprise capital large Andreessen Horowitz. However, the White House pulled Quintenz’s nomination following a public outcry by crypto billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss over Quintez’s ties to prediction market Kalshi. Quintez has a seat on the Kalshi board, and there have been conflict-of-interest considerations over his skill to run the CFTC impartially.

Selig labored alongside CryptoDad writer and former CFTC chair Chris Giancarlo. And like Giancarlo, Selig is a vocal crypto supporter and can possible spend his time as CFTC head by fulfilling Mr. Trump’s need of turning America into the “crypto capital of the world.”

“Yes, I feel the crypto neighborhood is happy about Mike. But so is the entire CFTC neighborhood,” Giancarlo stated on a latest podcast, per The Intercept. “It’s not, ‘Crypto bro goes to CFTC.’ [Selig] is someone who has had a decade-long apply in all features of CFTC regulation and jurisdiction, and is achieved in all these areas.”

Those within the prediction markets are additionally excited for Selig: he’ll possible proceed to take care of the CFTC’s hands-off strategy to prediction markets. When requested how the CFTC would regulate firms providing occasion contracts that permit prospects to wager on sports activities through prediction markets, Selig stated it was a “sophisticated Issue” that’s “working its approach by means of the courts, and so I’ll respect the selections of these courts.” (h/t Politico)

Selig’s perspective implies that CFTC received’t intervene as prediction markets grow and permit sports activities contracts to be self-centered. As prediction markets have expanded into the sports activities world, state gaming regulators and tribal authorities have filed lawsuits, arguing that these exchanges are playing operations relatively than monetary derivatives. 

Selig appears superb leaving the courts to find out what’s what, and never utilizing the fee’s energy to step in.

Senators additionally pressed Selig about advising Mr. Trump on nominating Democrats to the CFTC. Since the beginning of the yr, the fee’s different members left the board, forsaking solely appearing chair Caroline Pham. The CFTC often splits 3-2 alongside celebration strains, with the bulk going in the direction of whichever celebration is within the White House.

“My job, if confirmed as chairman, is to meet the company’s mission,” Selig advised Democrats, “and I imagine that mission is finest fulfilled when we have now a range of viewpoints coming from wherever we will discover these viewpoints.”

Until then, he’ll possible be the only regulator overseeing the prediction markets. 

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