This first round of council participants represents conventional and digital asset exchanges.
Whether or not you agree with her policies and opinions, there is no question that Caroline D. Pham, the acting chairman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), does not waste time.
Grygo is the chief content officer for FTF & FTF News.
On November 25, Pham announced the creation of the CFTC CEO Innovation Council, and roughly two weeks later, on December 10, named the first round of council members.
This first round of council participants represents conventional and digital asset exchanges, and they “will engage in public discussion of market structure developments in derivatives markets. Further information on the CEO Innovation Council will be released once details are finalized,” according to the CFTC.
In the meantime, the exchange participants of the new council constitute an interesting mix that reflects established and relatively new players:
- Shayne Coplan, CEO, Polymarket;
- Craig Donohue, CEO, Cboe Global Markets;
- Terry Duffy, chairman and CEO, CME Group;
- Tom Farley, CEO, Bullish;
- Adena Friedman, chair and CEO, Nasdaq;
- Luke Hoersten, CEO, Bitnomial;
- Tarek Mansour, CEO, Kalshi;
- Kris Marszalek, CEO, Crypto.com;
- David Schwimmer, CEO, LSEG;
- Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO, Kraken;
- Jeff Sprecher, CEO, Intercontinental Exchange; and
- Tyler Winklevoss, CEO, Gemini
My guess is that this first round of council members will be busy as Pham is intent upon “building on the success of the CFTC Crypto CEO Forum and the SEC-CFTC Joint Roundtable,” as she notes in her prepared remarks. “The CFTC continues to lead on groundbreaking initiatives that exemplify responsible innovation with public engagement and expert input,” Pham says.
The CFTC CEO Innovation Council will be “focused on market structure developments in derivatives markets such as tokenization, crypto assets, 24/7 trading, perpetual contracts, prediction markets, and blockchain market infrastructure,” Pham adds. “I am grateful to the CEOs who have agreed to share their vision and experience with the Commission as we hit the ground running to prepare for the future and beyond.”
The running metaphor is accurate as the CFTC under Pham has quickly launched profound next steps, as our coverage has shown:
- CFTC Facilitates a Digital Assets Pilot Program, Dec. 10:
- Spot Crypto Trading Pioneers Get CFTC’s Approval, Dec 10:
In addition, some major changes for the CFTC are being mulled in various circles while the regulator is awaiting a new chairperson and new commissioners:
- Time to Unify the SEC & CFTC? In the Nov. 19 story, we report upon Timothy G. Massad’s op-ed piece for the Brookings Institution that argues that a merger may be the best way to regulate digital assets. Whatever happens, Pham is bringing the regulator up to crypto speeds.
- Should the CFTC Regulate Digital Commodity Trading? In the Nov. 12 piece, we chronicle how S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), chair of the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), have released a discussion draft of legislation that would let the CFTC regulate digital commodity trading. The new council of CEOs is likely to review that draft.
In a prepared statement, CFTC officials note that Pham and the CFTC have no intentions of slowing down.
“The CFTC’s Crypto Sprint to implement the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report recommendations is targeted to continue through August 2026 and includes listed spot crypto trading, tokenized collateral and stablecoins, and rulemaking to enable the use of blockchain technology and market infrastructure,” officials say.
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