The White House is reportedly close to naming Mike Selig, Chief Counsel on the SEC Crypto Task Force, as its nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to two people familiar with the process.
The move would fill the leadership vacancy left by Brian Quintenz, who was ousted last month, and comes as the administration faces mounting pressure to appoint a crypto-savvy regulator capable of bridging the gap between the CFTC and SEC. Acting Chair Caroline Pham currently serves as the sole leader of the five-member commission.
Sources told Crypto In America that the White House has also begun vetting potential commissioner candidates as part of a broader effort to rebuild and rebalance the agency. The next CFTC chair will play a crucial role in shaping crypto market oversight, particularly as Congress races to pass a market structure bill that could expand the CFTC’s rulemaking authority over digital assets.
Selig’s background positions him as a strong contender for the job. Before joining the SEC, he clerked for former CFTC Commissioner Chris Giancarlo and later spent a decade in private practice at Perkins Coie and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he was part of the firms’ digital assets teams.
Industry leaders have voiced strong support for Selig’s nomination. Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer Stu Alderoty called him “the best candidate to harmonize CFTC and SEC oversight,” while CoinFund President Chris Perkins praised him as “one hell of a guy.”