Michael Selig officially took over as the 16th chairman of the CFTC on December 22.
This person's background is very interesting; he was previously the chief legal advisor for the SEC's cryptocurrency working group, and the right-hand man of Paul Atkins. The White House's crypto affairs director, Sacks, directly referred to him and SEC Chairman Atkins as the "regulatory dream team."
Selig's first act upon taking office was to declare: he wants to end the old approach of "using law enforcement instead of regulation" and promote the establishment of common regulatory standards. He also revealed that Congress will soon submit a digital asset market structure bill, which, if passed, will give the CFTC clear jurisdiction over "digital commodities."
BTC is now priced at $87532, down 2.39%. The market's reaction to personnel changes has been muted. However, the real point of interest is not the appointment itself, but the subsequent bill text—how "digital commodities" are defined is the key detail that will determine the fate of BTC and ETH.
On the same day, the news from JPMorgan about entering cryptocurrency trading is no coincidence. Regulatory and institutional actions are synchronized; the landscape will change by 2026.
