White House Close to Announcing Selig as CFTC Chair Nominee
Mike Selig, Chief Counsel on the SEC Crypto Task Force, remains the administration’s top contender
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Crypto In America Newsletter!
What you’ll read: White House close to naming new CFTC Chair, crypto rebounds after historic sell-off and what to keep an eye on this week.
The White House is said to be nearing a decision on its pick to replace Brian Quintenz as its nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and two sources close to the process say Mike Selig, Chief Counsel on the SEC Crypto Task Force, remains the administration’s top contender.
Crypto In America has learned that the White House has also begun vetting potential commissioners as it looks to rebuild the five-member commission, which is currently operating under the sole leadership of Acting Chair Caroline Pham.
It comes as industry groups step up pressure on the White House to nominate a crypto-friendly candidate following Quintenz’s ousting last month, and as crunch time approaches for Congress to pass a market structure bill that would expand the CFTC’s rulemaking authority over crypto markets. Top qualities for the new pick, these sources say, include someone who understands both SEC and CFTC policy and can help advance the administration’s goal of coordinating and unifying oversight across the two agencies.
Selig, who is also Senior Advisor to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, began his career at the CFTC clerking for then-Commissioner Chris Giancarlo before spending a decade in private practice, including stints at Perkins Coie and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he was part of the firm’s digital assets team.
“No one is better suited than Mike Selig to harmonize the CFTC and SEC on crypto and beyond, reducing duplicative regulation and patching fragmentation,” said Stu Alderoty, Chief Legal Officer at Ripple.
Chris Perkins, president of investment firm Coinfund, described Selig as “one hell of a guy.”
👀 What To Watch This Week
The shutdown: Week three is upon us and negotiations remain at a standstill, with Republicans ratcheting up pressure on Democrats over missed military pay and federal layoffs while refusing to extend health care subsidies. Talks at the top appear dead, rank-and-file negotiations have stalled, and both sides are sticking to their leverage points, which include military pay for Republicans and ACA enrollment for Democrats.
Market structure: Following last week’s fallout between Senate Republicans and Democrats over the leaked DeFi proposal, market structure negotiations remain in limbo. Republicans have paused talks until Democrats agree to a markup date, which they weren’t ready to do, and it’s unclear who will move first. We’ll be watching for any signals either side is ready to return to the table.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
Monday
Blockworks’ Digital Assets Summit (DAS) kicks off in London.
Tuesday
12:20 PM: Fed Chair Jerome Powell gives a speech on economic outlook and monetary policy at the National Association for Business Economics in Philadelphia.
3:25 PM: Fed Governor Christopher Waller gives a speech on payments at the 2025 Institute of International Finance (IIF) Annual Membership Meeting in Washington D.C.
Wednesday
8:45 AM: DC Fintech Week kicks off at Amazon HQ2. Prominent speakers include SEC Chair Paul Atkins, FDIC Acting Chair Travis Hill, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Sarah Breeden, and more.
11:00 AM: The Cato Institute will hold a discussion on fifty-five years of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Thursday
9:00 AM: Fed Governor Michael Barr will talk stablecoins at DC Fintech Week.
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Find out how Avalanche is accelerating global finance.
Crypto Rallies After Historic Flash Crash
Crypto markets rebounded Monday following Friday’s largest single-day liquidation event in history.
Bitcoin climbed above $115,000 and Ether approached $4,200 in early Monday trading before retreating to around $114,500 and $4,100, respectively. XRP bounced back up to $2.57, while Solana is trading around $192.
The bounce followed conciliatory statements from President Trump and Vice President JD Vance over the weekend, hinting at a potential China trade deal and calming tensions after Trump threatened 100% tariffs on China Friday.
The announcement triggered a flash crash across Bitcoin, Ether and altcoins, with prices falling 10 to 90 percent. Over $19 billion in bets were wiped out as hundreds of thousands of traders were liquidated in rapid succession, from small retail players to major positions. Ethena USDe briefly lost its dollar peg, and Binance and other centralized exchanges experienced glitches that prevented many retail buyers from executing trades.
Binance said it will pay out around $283 million to users of three assets that depegged during Friday’s crash, with top executives apologizing to customers who lost funds. Execution and trading on DeFi exchanges held up reasonably well by comparison.
“Everyone is really hurting from this and of course it will recover, but that will probably take some time,” professional trader Mark Shut told Crypto In America. “This was not normal by any means.”
What caused the aggressive selloff remains unclear. Some traders say it “looked coordinated,” pointing to how over half of the $19 billion in liquidations came from Hyperliquid, the largest decentralized exchange.
“There’s no coincidence in that,” one market participant said, calling the event “extremely manipulated.” Others floated theories ranging from market makers and Trump insiders to geopolitical actors, though none of it can be confirmed.
Remember, new editions of the Crypto In America newsletter drop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7AM EST.
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