CFTC's acting chief Pham poised to go to crypto firm MoonPay once Mike Selig lands

The person of the derivatives regulator is readying to articulation the crypto manufacture arsenic the CFTC and different national regulators enactment connected policies to payment the sector.

Dec 17, 2025, 11:00 p.m.

With an any-minute-now confirmation of Mike Selig to instrumentality implicit the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, its stand-in chief, Caroline Pham, is person to her longstanding program to leap to crypto steadfast MoonPay.

As CoinDesk reported past month, Pham was said to beryllium readying to instrumentality connected the relation of main ineligible serviceman and main administrative serviceman astatine the company, a fiscal exertion institution focused connected crypto, which conscionable obtained a New York spot charter last month. It's a way further confirmed by the institution connected Wednesday, including a connection from Pham acknowledging her modulation erstwhile she's replaced by President Donald Trump's nominee, Selig.

“I’m excited to articulation MoonPay astatine a pivotal moment,” said Pham, successful an antithetic vocation enactment emerging earlier the regulator's departure. Pham also posted connected the societal media tract X connected Wednesday that erstwhile Selig is sworn in, she's looking guardant to "a creaseless transition."

"The aboriginal is bright," she said.

The erstwhile managing manager astatine Citigroup has led an aggressive docket pushing crypto-friendly policy, which has travel to a caput with respective caller initiatives established successful the past fewer weeks, conscionable arsenic Selig's confirmation process precocious successful the Senate. He's expected to beryllium approved arsenic portion of a monolithic bundle of nominees successful a vote presently scheduled for Wednesday evening.

Selig is an authoritative astatine the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, wherever helium has helped with the agency's enactment connected crypto policy.

“Caroline is 1 of the astir influential leaders successful U.S. fiscal regulation, helping specify the aboriginal of integer assets,” said Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and CEO of MoonPay, successful a connection that called her the "perfect person to usher MoonPay done our adjacent section of maturation and compliance excellence.”

At the company, which besides holds a New York BitLicense and handles crypto trading, payments, and stablecoin infrastructure, Pham volition oversee its argumentation and regulatory strategy successful Washington. It's not straight regulated by the CFTC.

Read more: Most Influential: Caroline Pham

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