On December 22, 2025, Michael S. Selig was sworn in as the 16th chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), marking a shift for derivatives oversight amid accelerating innovation in digital assets. Selig’s mandate arrives at a moment when Congress is weighing crypto legislation and the CFTC is recalibrating its approach to modern markets.[1]
Selig brings a blend of public- and private-sector experience. He is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School and began his career as a law clerk to then-CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo. He then advised a broad spectrum of CFTC registrants in private practice at multiple global law firms. Most recently, he was chief counsel to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force and senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins.[2]
Selig succeeds Acting Chair Caroline Pham, who guided the agency through significant enforcement and process reforms in 2025. Acting Chair Pham made significant strides in promoting innovation in digital assets and beyond, including enabling perpetual contracts, 24/7 trading, and prediction markets, as well as launching the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint to implement the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report recommendations. Pham also guided the listing of spot crypto trading on CFTC-registered futures exchanges, established the digital asset markets pilot program, tokenized collateral guidance, and the CFTC Crypto CEO Forum and CEO Innovation Council.[3]
Selig has promised to continue the focus on core market integrity and transparency in enforcement. We have also been told to expect faster, clearer registration reviews, coupled with a push to streamline “unwritten law” and harmonize the various registration processes.[4] In his hearing, Selig emphasized “principles-based regulations” and the “minimum effective dose of regulation,” while also pledging the CFTC will remain a “cop on the beat” focused on fraud and manipulation rather than technical noncompliance alone.[5] On crypto and emerging tech, Selig is poised to prioritize regulatory harmonization with the SEC and swift implementation of any market structure legislation. He has framed the moment as an opportunity to “pioneer commonsense rules of the road for the new financial markets of America’s Golden Age.”[6] Selig has also pledged to “ensure that the innovations of tomorrow are Made in America.”[7] Businesses active in digital assets should prepare for expedited reviews, clearer cross-agency expectations, and continued scrutiny of market abuse.[8]
[1] Michael Selig Sworn In as 16th CFTC Chairman, CFTC Press Release Number 9164-25, Dec. 22, 2025.
[2] Id.
[3] Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham Announces Departure from CFTC, CFTC Press Release Number 9163-25, December 22, 2025. Pham’s last day at the commission was December 22, 2025. Id.
[4] Hearings to Examine the Nomination of Michael Selig, of Florida, to Be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Agric., Nutrition, & Forestry, 119th Cong. (Nov. 19, 2025), https://www.congress.gov/event/119th-congress/senate-event/337642
[5] Id.
[6] Michael Selig Sworn In as 16th CFTC Chairman, CFTC Press Release Number 9164-25, Dec. 22, 2025.
[7] Id.
[8] Hearings to Examine the Nomination of Michael Selig, of Florida, to Be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Agric., Nutrition, & Forestry, 119th Cong. (Nov. 19, 2025), https://www.congress.gov/event/119th-congress/senate-event/337642
