Trump taps crypto regulator Mike Selig to run CFTC after pulling nominee

President Trump nominated cryptocurrency regulator Mike Selig to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), almost a month after the Trump administration withdrew its nomination of Brian Quintenz.

White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks announced Trump's "excellent choice" early Saturday morning. Sacks called Selig "deeply knowledgeable about financial markets and passionate about modernizing our regulatory approach in order to maintain America’s competitiveness in the digital asset era," in a statement shared on the social media platform X.

"Mike has not only been instrumental in driving forward the President’s crypto agenda as Chief Counsel of the [Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)] Crypto Task Force, he also brings deep experience in traditional commodities markets from his time working at the CFTC under former Chairman Chris Giancarlo," Sacks wrote.

In his own post on X, Selig wrote that he pledges "to work tirelessly to facilitate Well-Functioning Commodity Markets, promote Freedom, Competition and Innovation, and help the President make the United States the Crypto Capital of the World."

Selig serves as chief counsel for the SEC's crypto task force. He previously worked as a partner at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, based in New York City.

Trump previously tapped Quintenz in February to run the CFTC. A former CFTC commissioner, Quintenz accused crypto billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of asking Trump to have "my confirmation be paused for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts," Quintenz wrote in an X post on Sept. 10.

The texts he was referring to show that Tyler Winklevoss asked Quintenz what he thought about a complaint that crypto exchange Gemini had filed with the CFTC’s inspector general. He cautioned the Winklevoss brother to give "careful thought" should anyone at the CFTC communicate "with you in attempt to undermine or color my potential consideration of these things.”

"I’ve never been inclined to release private messages," Quintenz wrote in his X post. "But in light of my support for the President and belief that he might have been misled, I’ve posted here the messages that include the questions Tyler Winklevoss asked me pertaining to their prior litigation with the CFTC. I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise."

Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero stepped down in May in anticipation of a new CFTC head. Commissioner Kristin Johnson stayed in her role until Sept. 3.

Acting chair Caroline Pham, who was tapped to lead the commission the day Trump returned to the White House in January, also congratulated Selig.

"Mike’s deep familiarity with CFTC markets will benefit all our constituents, from agricultural and energy producers, to exchanges and market participants, and digital asset firms," she wrote on X. "Mike is the right leader for this pivotal moment for innovation and market structure. Together, the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint and SEC’s Project Crypto will usher in a new Golden Age of Crypto."