CFTC Chair Backs Trump's Vision for US Crypto Leadership The United States is taking steps toward a formal national crypto strategy, with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair @Mi
The United States is taking steps toward a formal national crypto strategy, with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair @MichaelSelig describing @realDonaldTrump as "The Crypto President" in a recent interview. Selig outlined the administration's ambition to develop a national crypto roadmap and characterised the Trump team as a "pro-crypto army" committed to cementing America's position at the top of the global digital asset industry.
Selig was sworn in as the 16th Chairman of the CFTC after being nominated by President Trump on October 27, 2025 and confirmed by the US Senate on December 18, 2025. Before taking the CFTC role, he served as chief counsel of the SEC's Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, where he helped develop a regulatory framework for digital asset securities markets and worked to harmonise the SEC and CFTC regulatory regimes.
Selig's comments align with concrete regulatory action already underway. The SEC and CFTC have re-launched Project Crypto as a joint policy initiative to better prepare US markets for the digital asset era. The initiative is designed to ensure the United States is ready to reinforce its global financial leadership when Congress acts, including creating clear regulatory on-ramps for compliant participants and modernising surveillance tools to reflect on-chain market activity.
Thanks to Trump's leadership, Congress is now on the cusp of enacting historic digital asset market structure legislation that would provide long-overdue regulatory clarity to an American industry that embodies the promise of the future. The GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, which aims to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, have been received well by investors in the sector.
In April 2026, Selig appeared at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas alongside SEC Chair Paul Atkins, with two agency heads historically at odds over crypto jurisdiction standing shoulder to shoulder at the largest Bitcoin conference in the world. In four months as CFTC chairman, he co-signed a historic memorandum of understanding with the SEC, helped architect a joint token taxonomy classifying 16 crypto assets as digital commodities, and launched the CFTC's "Future-Proof" initiative to rewrite rules so they work for Bitcoin and modern digital markets.
The administration's push signals a significant shift in Washington's approach to crypto, moving away from enforcement-led oversight toward a structured, co-ordinated regulatory framework designed to keep digital asset innovation on American soil.
Sources:CFTC: Michael Selig Sworn In as 16th CFTC ChairmanCFTC/SEC Op-Ed: Team Trump Readies Crypto PlanCNBC: Trump Names Michael Selig to Chair CFTC
