By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
The partnership of the CFTC with the industry professional seems to be in stark contrast with the other US agencies, such as the SEC, which has presented itself very coldly towards cryptocurrencies.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) declared the former White House Official Carole House as the new chair and blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs’ Ari Redboard as the vice chair of its Technology Advisory Committee.
The CFTC disclosed a list of its members to the committee on Monday, declaring a newly-elected committee that is being backed by Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero, who took charge of the office in March.
In a statement floated by Goldsmith Romero, it is said that the protection or safeguard of virtual tokens requires assistance from technological experts who understand the consequences of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, etc. The professionals in this area can offer profound knowledge about the technology, along with the complex and nuanced impacts and effects of technology on economical markets.
The Technology Advisory Committee was initially backed by former CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz, who is presently the head of policy at Venture Capital Firm Andreessen Horowitz.
A few years ago, when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)’s Technology Advisory Committee hosted back-to-back panels on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and regulation, Briance Quintenz talked about self-regulatory efforts on cryptocurrencies, taking a very bullish stance on cryptocurrencies.
In March 2022, US President Joe Biden gave strong hope to the crypto industry in the country by signing an executive order that asked Federal entities to build plans to improve the regulation of crypto. While Biden became the face of the order, it was the work of Carole House, the former White House director of cybersecurity to write the expansive document. Carole House is presently an executive-in-residence at Terranet Ventures. Redbord was initially at the US Treasury Department before joining the blockchain analytics company.
Other crypto industry names that have been elected to the committee comprise Circle’s vice president Corey Then, Espresso Systems Chief Strategy Officer Jill Gunter, Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov, Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer, and many more.
The other conventional industry representative includes IBM Fellow and AI Ethics Head Francesca Rossi, S&P Global Commodity Insights Chief Technology and Innovation Officer Stanley Guzik, ICE Futures US President Jennifer Ilkiw, National Futures Association Data Director Todd Smith, CME Chief Information Officer Sunil Cutinho and Cboe Digital President John Palmer.
The partnership of the CFTC with the industry professional seems to be in stark contrast with the other US agencies, for example, the infamous Securities and Exchange Commission, which has allegedly presented itself very coldly towards cryptocurrencies behind closed doors. Executives like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell, and Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long have all emphasized trying to actively work with the SEC and the administration over the past couple of years.