Senate Approves Michael Selig to Head CFTC

Michael Selig

The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Michael Selig as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, installing a key financial regulator amid sweeping changes in market structure, digital assets and banking oversight.

Selig’s confirmation places him at the center of one of Washington’s most consequential regulatory debates, as lawmakers consider legislation that would significantly expand the CFTC’s authority over cryptocurrencies and prediction markets. His approval follows a closely watched Senate Committee on Agriculture hearing earlier this month, in which he outlined a deregulatory, crypto-forward vision for the agency while deflecting repeated questions about whether the CFTC has the resources to manage an expanded mandate.

Appearing before the committee, Selig argued that the CFTC is the “right and only” regulator for spot digital commodity trading and urged Congress to move quickly on market-structure legislation. He described the digital asset market’s evolution from a niche experiment to a nearly $4 trillion ecosystem as a turning point that demands clearer rules and regulatory certainty.

“We need clear, simple guidelines; we need consumer protection; and we need to stop regulation by enforcement,” Selig told senators, warning that unclear standards and aggressive enforcement actions have pushed innovation offshore.

Lawmakers from both parties, however, pressed Selig on the agency’s capacity. The CFTC downsized by roughly 20% of its staff this year as part of President Donald Trump’s move to shrink the size of the federal government. It is set to operate with just one sitting commissioner—Selig—out of its normal five, even as Congress contemplates granting it oversight of fast-growing crypto markets with tens of billions of dollars in daily trading volume. Selig declined to commit to supporting additional funding during the hearing, saying he would need to assess the agency’s needs once confirmed.

Commissioner Caroline Pham, who served as acting chair of the CFTC for much of the year, previously announced that she intended to step down after Selig’s confirmation. It was reported this week that she will accept a job as chief legal officer at cryptocurrency firm MoonPay.

Now approved by the Senate, Selig will also inherit oversight of an agency grappling with the rapid rise of prediction markets. Trading activity surged after Kalshi Inc. prevailed in a lawsuit that allowed it to offer contracts tied to the 2024 presidential election, a development that has drawn scrutiny from state gaming regulators and tribal authorities.

Selig previously served as chief counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cryptocurrency task force and is expected to continue efforts to coordinate digital-asset regulation between the SEC and CFTC. While emphasizing the need for a “cop on the beat” in cryptocurrency markets, he also cautioned against applying traditional financial-intermediary rules too broadly, particularly to decentralized finance applications without a clear operator.