CFTC Officials Who Raised Crypto Concerns Were Suspended, NYT Reports

TLDR

• Senior CFTC officials who flagged concerns about Polymarket, Crypto.com and Gemini were suspended and pushed out
• All three firms have direct business ties to the Trump family
• Then-acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham and her counsel intervened to help the firms despite staff objections
• Crypto enforcement actions dropped from over 80 under Biden to just two under Trump
• Both Pham and her counsel later took jobs at firms they helped approve

Under the Trump administration, senior officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission who raised concerns about three crypto and prediction market companies were suspended, investigated, and eventually removed from the agency. A New York Times investigation published Sunday drew on agency records and interviews with more than 30 current and former staff.

The three companies at the center of the report are Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Gemini affiliate Gemini Titan. Each has direct financial ties to the Trump family.

Polymarket received investment from 1789 Capital, a venture firm partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. Crypto.com is a business partner of Trump Media, with which it launched “Truth Predict” on Truth Social. Gemini’s founders back American Bitcoin, a company co-founded by Eric Trump.

Career CFTC staff raised specific concerns about each firm. They worried Crypto.com was not treating small bettors fairly. They flagged that Polymarket lacked adequate fraud protections. They also said Gemini Titan had not completed the required regulatory review before operating.

Intervention at the Top

Then-acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham and her senior counsel Brigitte Weyls intervened on each case, according to the NYT. In one instance, Weyls reportedly sent staff a draft memo recommending Gemini Titan’s application be approved before staff had finished their review. Standard practice requires staff to write those recommendations themselves. The application was quickly approved.

By the end of 2025, two officials who had questioned the firms were placed on administrative leave and put under internal investigation. Three others who had enforced crypto laws faced the same outcome. None were told what they had done wrong.

Current and former staff told the NYT the message was clear: “Don’t cause trouble for those industries.”

Enforcement Numbers Fall Sharply

The CFTC filed more than 80 crypto enforcement actions under President Biden. Under the current Trump administration, that number has dropped to just two, both targeting individual operators rather than major firms.

The agency also dropped at least five crypto investigations, including a late-stage probe of a major exchange.

Pham later left the CFTC to join MoonPay, a crypto firm partnered with Polymarket. Weyls became general counsel at Gemini Titan, the same company whose application she helped push through.

Current CFTC chair Michael Selig, the agency’s only commissioner, previously represented crypto firms as a corporate lawyer. Trump has not nominated anyone to fill the four remaining vacant seats.

The House Agriculture Committee recently urged Trump to fill those seats, warning the agency cannot handle its responsibilities with just one commissioner.

The Senate Banking Committee voted 15-9 earlier this month to advance the CLARITY Act, a bill that would give the CFTC broad new authority over digital commodity markets.

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