Ripple and Coinbase Leadership Join CFTC's Expanded 35-Person Advisory Panel
In January, CFTC chair Mike Selig established the Innovation Advisory Committee with 12 initial charter members, subsequently growing the roster to 35 individuals on Thursday.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has expanded its Innovation Advisory Committee to include numerous cryptocurrency industry leaders, with executives from both Coinbase and Ripple among those who will help influence the regulator's policy development approach.
On Thursday, CFTC chair Mike Selig announced that the committee's 35 members will work to "ensure the CFTC's decisions reflect market realities" while allowing the agency to "develop clear rules of the road for the Golden Age of American Financial Markets."
The advisory panel was established in January as a replacement for the Technology Advisory Committee, which had previously consulted with technology industry leaders to examine the broader impact of emerging technologies on derivatives markets.
This development arrives as Selig has indicated the CFTC plans to adopt a more welcoming stance toward cryptocurrency and has begun collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a coordinated approach to sector regulation.
Cryptocurrency industry leaders dominate committee composition
Among the 35 individuals comprising the committee, 20 have affiliations with cryptocurrency-focused companies, with a minimum of five members involved in prediction market platforms.
Notable appointments include Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini, Shayne Coplan, who leads Polymarket, Tarek Mansour of Kalshi, and Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, alongside senior executives from Nasdaq, Intercontinental Exchange, Cboe Global Markets, CME Group, Kraken and Bullish.
Additional committee members include Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, Brad Garlinghouse who heads Ripple, Chris Dixon, a partner at a16z Crypto, Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO of Solana Labs, Hayden Adams from Uniswap, Peter Smith of Blockchain.com, Vladimir Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, Peter Mintzberg of Grayscale, and Nathan McCauley, who leads Anchorage Digital.
The committee roster also features executives from Paradigm, DraftKings, and the US Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation.
Advisory panel's guidance to complement broader consultation efforts
The committee's mandate involves providing guidance to the CFTC regarding the commercial, economic, and practical implications of emerging products, platforms, and business models within financial markets.
According to a January announcement from the CFTC, the agency will also take into account perspectives from regulatory agencies, academic institutions, and public interest organizations when developing its policy framework.