The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has unveiled the first members of its fresh innovation task force as the agency continues its efforts to bring greater transparency to the cryptocurrency market.
The Innovation Task Force was initially launched on March 24 by CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, who named Michael Passalacqua as the group’s leader. Passalacqua is currently a senior advisor to Selig at the CFTC.
In announcement On Friday, the CFTC said Passalacqua would be joined by a slate of five initial members, including Hank Balaban, a former Latham & Watkins cryptocurrency lawyer; Sam Canavos, former Patomak Crypto and Prediction Markets Advisor; Mark Fajfar, veteran CFTC lawyer; Eugene Gonzalez IV, former Sidley blockchain lawyer; and Dina Moussa, special counsel in the CFTC’s Market Participants Division.
“The Innovation Task Force is comprised of a leading team with deep expertise and an enthusiastic commitment to providing clear rules of conduct for America’s innovators,” Selig said.
The move is part of a broader effort by the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide regulatory transparency for the digital asset sector under the Trump administration.
Source: Michael Passalacqua
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On Friday, so did Selig announced The CFTC’s “innovation tracker,” which highlights all the work done under Selig to aid “advance regulatory transparency, market integrity and responsible technological advancement.”
The website lists three key areas of innovation that the agency is focused on, including cryptocurrencies and blockchain, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and contract and forecast markets.
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In particular, the CFTC could become the industry’s primary regulator, with the SEC proposing in mid-March that the agency not view most crypto assets under its jurisdiction as securities.
However, certainty about the roles of the two agencies still depends largely on whether the Transparency Act makes it through the higher levels of government and becomes law, according to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins called by X on Thursday.
The SEC and CFTC are “ready to implement the CLARITY Act,” he said, adding: “It’s time for Congress to put in place safeguards against unfair regulators and bring comprehensive market structure legislation to President Trump’s desk.”
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