CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham to Join MoonPay as CLAO

Key Highlights

• Caroline Pham, the acting chair of the U.S. CFTC, is reportedly planning to become Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at MoonPay
• This report comes ahead of the expected Senate confirmation of Mike Selig as permanent CFTC Chair. 
• Ahead of her departure from the agency, Pham has taken major initiatives to bring regulatory clarity to the cryptocurrency sector

According to the latest report, Caroline Pham, the acting chair of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is leaving the regulatory agency to join the private sector. 

Caroline Pham will become the Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at MoonPay, which is a leading cryptocurrency payments company. 

This report comes amid the U.S. Senate’s preparation to confirm her permanent successor, following the expected Senate confirmation of Mike Selig as permanent CFTC Chair. 

Caroline Pham: Productive Weeks Ahead of Her Departure

Caroline Pham’s final weeks at the CFTC have seen a number of historic decisions to bring regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency sector. Under a new policy shift, she actively worked to roll out a crypto sprint to start implementation of the recommendations in the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report.

“Under my leadership this year, the CFTC has led the way forward into America’s Golden Age of Innovation and Crypto,” she said earlier.

“The CFTC is wasting no time in fulfilling President Trump’s vision to make America the crypto capital of the world,” Acting Chairman Pham stated in the earlier press release. “We will work closely with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce to achieve Project Crypto. Providing regulatory clarity now and fostering innovation in digital asset markets will deliver on the Administration’s promise to usher in a Golden Age of Crypto.”

Under her leadership, the CFTC approved for the first time ever the trading of spot cryptocurrency products on federally regulated U.S. exchanges. This will allow American traders to access regulated alternatives to offshore trading platforms. 

Just days later, the agency launched a first-of-its-kind pilot program, which allows selected digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, and the stablecoin USDC, to be used as collateral in the massive derivative markets. 

Acting Chairman Pham stated in the press release, “I am launching a U.S. digital assets pilot program for tokenized collateral, including bitcoin and ether, in our derivatives markets that establishes clear guardrails to protect customer assets and provides enhanced CFTC monitoring and reporting. The CFTC is also providing regulatory clarity through tokenized collateral guidance for real world assets like U.S. Treasuries, and withdrawing CFTC requirements that are now outdated under the GENIUS Act.” 

“As I’ve said before, embracing responsible innovation ensures that U.S. markets are the world leader, and drives progress that will unleash U.S. economic growth because market participants can safely put their dollars to work smarter and go further,” she said.

Caroline Pham Brings a Clear Regulatory Framework for Crypto

Apart from the legal initiatives, Pham also worked on breaking down long-standing regulatory obstacles by increasing cooperation between different agencies. In September, the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a joint statement. This statement clarified that registered exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating spot crypto trading. 

In her statement, she declared that the era of sending mixed signals to the crypto sector was over.

Apart from this, she also repealed the CFTC’s outdated 2020 actual delivery guidance, which had created complex compliance hurdles for crypto companies. The agency stated that eliminating this overly complex guidance was a direct effort to stop harassment on crypto-based innovations.

“Eliminating outdated and overly complex guidance that penalizes the crypto industry and stifles innovation is exactly what the Administration has set out to do this year,” Acting Chairman Pham said. “Today’s announcement shows that with decisive action, real progress can be made to protect Americans by promoting access to safe U.S. markets.”

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