The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has revealed the initial members of its CEO Innovation Council, designed to explore developments in derivatives market structure, focusing particularly on tokenization, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology.
Notable CEOs from the crypto industry like Tyler Winklevoss of Gemini, Arjun Sethi from Kraken, and Shayne Coplan of Polymarket will be joining executives from established firms such as CME Group, Nasdaq, Intercontinental Exchange, and Cboe Group.
CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline Pham expressed her gratitude to the CEOs for their willingness to share their insights and expertise with the commission as they proactively prepare for the future. The group, quickly assembled over two weeks, will concentrate on market structure progress in derivatives markets, including areas like tokenization, crypto assets, continuous trading, perpetual contracts, prediction markets, and blockchain infrastructure.
The complete roster for the new council includes:
- Shayne Coplan, CEO, Polymarket
- Craig Donohue, CEO, Cboe Global Markets
- Terry Duffy, Chairman and CEO, CME Group
- Tom Farley, CEO, Bullish
- Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO, Nasdaq
- Luke Hoersten, CEO, Bitnomial
- Tarek Mansour, CEO, Kalshi
- Kris Marszalek, CEO, Crypto.com
- David Schwimmer, CEO, LSEG
- Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO, Kraken
- Jeff Sprecher, CEO, Intercontinental Exchange
- Tyler Winklevoss, CEO, Gemini
Bullish serves as the parent company of CoinDesk.
The establishment of this CEO group marks the latest in a series of rapid developments in the crypto space from the CFTC and Pham. The interim chair is hastily addressing her own crypto agenda’s final priorities. Recently, the agency introduced a pilot program permitting the use of crypto collateral in the derivatives market, which came shortly after Pham’s announcement that Bitnomial (whose CEO is part of the council) initiated leveraged spot crypto trading she personally endorsed as compliant with U.S. derivatives regulations.
These are likely to be among the final moments of her leadership at the agency, as President Donald Trump’s nominee for chairman, Mike Selig, is anticipated to be confirmed as early as Wednesday by the Senate. Upon his swearing-in, he will step into the midst of extensive new crypto policy initiatives led by Pham.
Although her interim term has lasted less than a year, she has prioritized crypto policy as a key mission for the derivatives regulator, responding to directives from President Donald Trump to advance favorable digital asset policies aimed at positioning the U.S. as a leading global hub. Simultaneously, Trump’s SEC chairman, Paul Atkins, has been similarly focused on his agency’s initiative known as Project Crypto.
