CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham has appointed a top official to handle the agency’s crypto outreach.
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Commodity Futures Trading Commission acting chair, Caroline Pham, has made significant changes to the agency’s top positions just days after being placed to head the regulator by US President Donald Trump.
Pham announced the CFTC’s new leadership in a Jan. 22 statement naming interim officials to top spots, including new directors for the agency’s market oversight and enforcement divisions along with a top position for the CFTC’s crypto outreach.
Harry Jung was appointed as acting chief of staff and will “lead the CFTC’s engagement on crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi), and other digital assets,” Pham said.
Jung previously served as Pham’s policy adviser. Pham was long known as a crypto-friendly Commissioner at the agency.
Trump picked Pham to head the CFTC on Jan. 20. In November, it was reported that the Trump administration could seek to hand the CFTC oversight of the crypto industry, significantly curbing the remit of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Coinfund president Christopher Perkins said in a Jan. 22 X post that he was “glad to see the CFTC engaging…and NOT with the head of enforcement.”
Crypto trader Monolith highlighted that Jung holds a law degree, has experience as a manager at Morgan Stanley, and served as vice president at CitiBank, which could make his approach to crypto regulations “interesting.”
Pham said Meaghan Tente will transition from chief of staff to acting general counsel, Taylor Foy will move from being Pham’s senior adviser to the Office of Public Affairs, and Tom Smith will take the lead of the market participants division.
The acting chair acknowledged former CFTC chairman Rostin Behnam — who had raised concerns about the lack of regulatory oversight in crypto — and the rest of the former CFTC leadership team.
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It comes after the CFTC announced a record-breaking $17.1 billion in monetary relief for fiscal year 2024, largely driven by enforcement actions involving crypto cases.
The record amount comprised $2.6 billion in civil monetary penalties (CMP) and $14.5 billion in disgorgement and restitution, the CFTC said on Dec. 5.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News