Michael Selig is walking into more than just the usual policy challenges as he takes the helm of Wall Street’s main derivatives regulator.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is on the precipice of gaining new crypto oversight as lawmakers continue to negotiate major legislation, grappling with the departure of key staff and facing a wave of applications for prediction markets that pull the agency deeper into retail trading.
It’s no shortage of change for an agency designed more for overseeing corn and crude oil futures than cutting edge crypto technology. Established half a century ago to regulate derivatives trading, the CFTC has earned a reputation as an important but low-profile regulator often overshadowed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
