CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam to depart company, requires have to fill crypto regulatory hole

• Behnam’s final day on the Fee will likely be February 7
• The CFTC obtained a $12.7 billion judgment towards the now-defunct FTX alternate and Alameda Analysis in 2024

Rostin Behnam, the US Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) Chair, will step down on January 20 as President-elect Donald Trump enters the White Home.

In an announcement launched by the company, Behnam added that his final day on the Fee will likely be February 7. Behnam, who has been a Democratic commissioner on the CFTC since 2017 and as Chair since 2021, mentioned:

“Over the previous a number of years, a large number of home and international occasions examined the resilience of all monetary markets. I’m proud that the Fee constantly made deliberate and intentional selections to make sure continued power. We labored to deal with regulatory gaps and uncertainty. We additionally responsibly engaged new entrants to assist innovation.”

In contrast to the harder stance taken by the US Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) towards the crypto market, the CFTC has taken a lighter method. This even though it obtained a $12.7 billion judgment towards the now-defunct FTX alternate and Alameda Analysis final yr.

Behnam, who has advocated for crypto regulation, mentioned that regulation within the crypto market is missing, calling for a have to “fill this hole,” given the rising adoption seen by conventional monetary establishments and retail and institutional traders.

No successor named but

Trump has but to call Behnam’s successor; nonetheless, a December report from Bloomberg indicated that Brian Quintenz, a former CFTC Commissioner, is within the operating to steer the company.

Quintenz presently leads coverage at a16z Crypto, the digital asset arm of enterprise capital Andreessen Horowitz.

Behnam’s resignation comes amid numerous different company officers resigning forward of Trump’s reappointment to the White Home. Yesterday, it was reported that the US Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision Michael Barr is stepping down on February 28.

Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, is getting ready to depart the company on January 20.  Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga may also be stepping down later this month.