Pham Powers Ahead on Crypto Initiatives as CFTC Chair Search Restarts
The search for Pham's replacement appears to be back on
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Acting CFTC Chair Pham earns praise for crypto initiatives, market structure markup faces delays, and Coinbase President Emilie Choi joins the podcast.
As DC reads the tea leaves on the next CFTC chair, Acting Chair Caroline Pham is getting credit for driving crypto initiatives into high gear while running a one-woman show at the agency.
On Tuesday, the agency thrilled the $4 trillion industry by greenlighting stablecoins to be used as tokenized collateral for the first time in U.S. derivatives markets. The move could prove significant by improving capital efficiency and lowering costs. Pham, now the agency’s sole commissioner, called it the “killer app to modernize markets,” earning praise for both the move and her leadership.
In recent weeks, she has launched a handful of “Crypto Sprint” initiatives to explore trading spot crypto on CFTC-regulated exchanges and to bring lost crypto activity back to the U.S., including clarifying Foreign Board of Trade rules and exploring recognition of foreign trading platforms. Her partnership with SEC Chair Paul Atkins has also strengthened agency collaboration, supporting joint efforts in crypto, DeFi, prediction markets, and perpetual contracts.
The moves have fueled some industry speculation over whether the White House might ask Pham to stay on as permanent chair, even though she’s said she plans to step down to pursue private-sector opportunities once a replacement is confirmed.
The search for that replacement appears to be back on.
Despite a letter last month from top crypto trade groups urging President Trump to confirm Brian Quintenz, whose nomination was paused at the White House’s direction, the administration has remained silent since July. Bloomberg and Semafor report it is now vetting at least three new candidates for the role.
It remains unclear whether Quintenz is still being considered.
Something Else That’s Stalled
The Senate Banking Committee’s markup on market structure legislation.
Despite leadership’s original target of September 30, the threat of a possible government shutdown and lack of Democratic input on the text now make a one-month delay likely.
Sources say the new target for the markup is the week of October 20, lining up with the Senate Agriculture Committee’s plan to mark up its CFTC-focused bill, although a date has not yet been confirmed.
Because the two versions of the bill must be combined before a full Senate vote, the industry is hopeful the delay will not derail the goal of sending a bill to the floor before the end of the year.
Scaling Coinbase and the U.S. Crypto Agenda
From corporate dev to crypto powerhouse. Coinbase President and COO Emilie Choi started risk averse and operational with a background at TradFi firms like LinkedIn and Warner Bros. Now she’s running DeFi acquisitions, venture bets, and building teams that scale, all while juggling law, policy, and crypto regulation.
On this week’s episode of Crypto In America, we sit down with Emilie to discuss Coinbase’s vision for a future where everything is onchain 24/7 in one place as it positions itself as the “everything app.” But midterms matter too. Emilie is still focused on prioritizing pro-crypto lawmakers, believing the fight isn’t over when it comes to defending crypto in Washington and keeping the U.S. aligned with innovation.
Watch on all platforms here.
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