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The Senate is expected to vote Thursday afternoon on Michael Selig’s nomination to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to congressional aides familiar with the schedule.
Selig, currently chief counsel for the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, advanced from the Senate Banking Committee last month on a 12-11 party-line vote. If confirmed, he would lead an agency operating with just one of its five commissioner seats filled and implementing significant changes to crypto regulation.
The vote comes one day after acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham withdrew the agency’s 2020 guidance on digital asset delivery requirements, which industry participants said created unclear compliance standards.
The agency has also authorized spot crypto trading on regulated futures exchanges and launched a pilot program allowing Bitcoin, ether and USDC as derivatives collateral.
The Trump CFTC nominee cleared the Senate Banking Committee last month in a razor-thin 12-11 party-line vote, setting up a dramatic floor showdown.
Selig, currently chief counsel for the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, has pledged to make the United States the Crypto Capital of the World” by combining innovation-friendly policy with traditional market oversight.
During his November hearing, senators grilled the Trump CFTC nominee on whether the agency’s 543-person staff could handle the massive responsibilities expected under the pending CLARITY Act.
Selig countered that streamlined rules, stronger supervision, and modernized technology systems could handle the job.
“We need a regulator who understands both developer culture and market safeguards,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis said. The Trump CFTC nominee represents a significant test of whether Washington can finally bridge that gap.
Acting Chair Caroline Pham announced a sweeping overhaul yesterday, withdrawing the CFTC’s outdated 2020 actual delivery guidance — a rule crypto firms said created impossible compliance barriers.
“Eliminating outdated and overly complex guidance that penalizes the crypto industry and stifles innovation is exactly what the Administration set out to do,” Pham said.
The move brings Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets back under the CFTC’s standard commodity framework, clearing obstacles for exchanges hoping to list new products.
This reset comes just days after regulators authorized spot crypto trading on federally regulated futures exchanges — a historic first.
For the Trump CFTC nominee, the timing is critical. If confirmed, Selig would inherit an agency rapidly reshaping the U.S. crypto landscape with newfound assertiveness.
The CFTC is also advancing its Crypto Sprint initiative, launching a December 8 pilot program allowing Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC to serve as collateral in derivatives markets.
The three-month program demands weekly reporting from futures commission merchants to give regulators real-time insight into tokenized asset performance.
In parallel, the agency issued guidance confirming that tokenized Treasuries and money-market instruments can be evaluated within existing frameworks — a major win for institutions exploring on-chain finance.
Former CFTC Chair Timothy Massad said the Trump CFTC nominee will have a defining role in determining whether tokenized markets scale responsibly or fragment into unchecked experimentation.
The confirmation vote lands amid a leadership vacuum that has left the CFTC barely functional. After Chair Rostin Behnam resigned in January — following the $4.3 billion Binance enforcement settlement — Commissioner Kristin Johnson departed in September.
Caroline Pham has already signaled plans to exit for MoonPay once a replacement is seated.
The Trump CFTC nominee emerged only after Trump’s initial pick, former Commissioner Brian Quintenz, withdrew under pressure from Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
The White House subsequently vetted Josh Sterling and Treasury counselor Tyler Williams before locking in Selig, who previously advised blockchain clients and worked under former Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo.
With Congress preparing to grant the CFTC primary authority over spot crypto markets, the office cannot remain leaderless.
As one Senate aide put it: The Trump CFTC nominee vote isn’t just about Selig — it’s about whether the U.S. can govern crypto markets at all.
