Selig’s potential nomination signals Trump’s push to align the SEC and CFTC on crypto regulation as market structure laws advance
SEC crypto task force chief counsel Michael Selig | DAS 2025 New York by Mike Lawrence for Blockworks
President Donald Trump plans to tap Michael Selig, chief counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force, to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The appointment marks the administration’s latest step toward unifying federal oversight of digital assets as Congress debates broader crypto market structure legislation.
Selig currently serves as a senior aide to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, where he has focused on aligning the SEC and CFTC’s regulatory approaches to digital assets, swaps, and futures markets.
Before joining the SEC, Selig was a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, advising asset managers on derivatives and financial regulation.
If confirmed by the Senate, Selig would succeed acting leadership at the CFTC, a relatively small but increasingly central regulator of derivatives and crypto markets.
The nomination follows Trump’s earlier failed attempt to install former CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz, a16z crypto’s global policy head, whose bid stalled amid industry opposition.
The CFTC, which supervises swaps, futures, and prediction markets, has gained prominence as lawmakers weigh bills clarifying jurisdiction between the SEC and CFTC over digital assets.
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