Leadership may be in flux at the CFTC, but former agency chairs see a path forward for it to take on crypto regulation

As Congress quickly moves to pass legislation broadening the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's oversight of cryptocurrencies, the agency is seeing a wave of departures among its top leadership, with all senior officials either recently leaving or set to step down in the coming months.

Though that may sound like a lot, the timing of it all may work out and has the potential to bring in a wave of crypto-friendly commissioners, former CFTC chairmen told The Block. And a lot of what the agency will be focused on will be crypto.

"So much of what the CFTC has ahead of it really is related to legislation as it pertains to crypto," said former Democratic CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, in an interview. Behnam is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Psaros Center for Financial Markets & Policy at Georgetown University.

Over the past several weeks, the remaining four commissioners at the CFTC — Democrats Kristin Johnson and Christy Goldsmith Romero and Republicans Acting Chair Caroline Pham and Summer Mersinger — have left the agency or announced plans to do so. Filling those spots could take a bit of time.

Goldsmith Romero had her last day on May 31. Pham said she planned to leave once President Donald Trump's nominee for CFTC Chair, Brian Quintenz, is confirmed. Mersinger was the first to announce her resignation publicly and said she was stepping down to take on being CEO of the Blockchain Association, which she started on Monday. Johnson was the last to announce her leave and said she will depart the CFTC at the end of the year.

Vacancies will need to be filled at the agency, which is done by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Commission itself needs to have no more than three commissioners from the same political party.

Quintenz could be confirmed between June and September of this year, Behnam said.

Significant changes in CFTC leadership aren't super unusual during transition periods, Behnam said, citing previous times when the agency was down to just two commissioners.

"It's a lot of change, there's no doubt about it, but in the context of history, I actually think it's quite normal and nothing really to be surprised at," he said.

Behnam also noted that many of the commissioners announced their departures ahead of time.

"These are the types of announcements that are important, as opposed to surprise departures, because the announcements ahead of the departure give a clear signal to both the White House and the Senate that change is afoot," he added.

Market structure bill

This comes as lawmakers in Washington are barreling toward trying to pass a bill to regulate the crypto industry at large. Last week, Republicans led an effort to introduce a bill that would require the CFTC, alongside the Securities and Exchange Commission, to write rules. It would also mean that "digital commodity exchanges" would have to register with the CFTC, according to the bill text . The bill has some Democratic support from cosponsors Reps. Ritchie Torres, Angie Craig, and Don Davis.

Behnam said the bill, in principle, is "heading in the right direction."

"I think it could align actually quite nicely between a market structure bill getting done and Brian [Quintenz] being in his spot and new commissioners being in their seats as well," Behnam said.

Behnam also said it could take a bit before the CFTC has the needed authority, but said there is an overall recognition that personnel is needed.

"I do think it's going to take a bit of time before we see the authority that's going to require the CFTC to do its job," Behnam said. "In terms of the commissioners, there's always a recognition by members and the White House that we need personnel to do the job, but it's not like there's a big bill that was signed by the president that's sitting there and waiting for the CFTC to do its job."

And there is pressure to pass such a bill from the top. Last week, Vice President J.D. Vance urged action and warned that inaction could send trillions of dollars offshore.

"If we fail to create regulatory clarity now, we risk chasing this $3 trillion industry offshore in search of a friendlier jurisdiction, and President Trump is going to fight to make sure that does not happen," Vance said on May 28 at the Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas.

Pro-crypto commissioners

Future CFTC commissioners will likely be pro-crypto, said former Republican CFTC Chair Christopher Giancarlo in an interview. Giancarlo is currently senior counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and chairman of the Digital Dollar Project.

"I don't think commissioners will be nominated who are not pro-crypto innovation by either side of the aisle," he said.

However, getting commissioners in seats could take a while.

"Everything in Washington takes longer than anything in the private sector," Giancarlo said. "Maybe that's not a bad thing, maybe that's by design."

Agencies like the CFTC work best with a full set of commissioners, Giancarlo said. The agency won't be a "full fighting strength at a time when it needs to be."

The agency has been a leader for digital assets, Giancarlo noted.

"I'm looking forward to the day when the CFTC is back up to full strength and can resume its role as one of America's really leading regulatory agencies when it comes to market innovation," Giancarlo said.

John Aughenbaugh, associate political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, voiced wariness on how quickly commissioners could be picked to fill spots, noting Trump's mission to deregulate in general may hamper the process of picking commissioners.

"In regards to picking new commissioners, I have not seen any indication that the Trump administration is much interested in the CFTC having a full complement of members, especially since many of Trump's executive orders and the work of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) have been about reducing government regulations," Aughenbaugh said in an email.