Sources: SEC Crypto Working Group Chief Legal Advisor Mike Selig Remains Top Candidate for CFTC Chair

Jinse Finance reported, citing Crypto In America, that the White House is about to make a decision on the candidate to succeed Brian Quintenz as Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Two sources close to the process said that Mike Selig, Chief Legal Advisor of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Cryptocurrency Working Group, remains the government's top candidate. It is reported that the White House has also begun reviewing potential commissioner candidates to rebuild the five-member committee. The committee is currently led solely by Acting Chair Caroline Pham. After Quintenz was removed last month, industry groups have been pressuring the White House to nominate a candidate who is friendly toward cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, Congress is about to pass a market structure bill that will expand the CFTC's rulemaking authority over the cryptocurrency market. According to sources, the primary criteria for the new candidate include understanding the policies of both the SEC and CFTC, and being able to help the government achieve the goal of coordinating and unifying the regulation of the two agencies. Selig is also a senior advisor to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. His career began at the CFTC, where he served as a clerk for then-Commissioner Chris Giancarlo, followed by ten years in private practice at Perkins Coie and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he was also a member of the firm's digital asset team.