The White House plans to name Rostin Behnam as the new chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Bloomberg has learned. If and when Behnam is nominated, he will oversee global derivatives market, including cryptocurrencies. However, the timing of an announcement is still weeks away, sources familiar with the matter said.
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Behnam is a long supporter of digitalization of the economy. Speaking at the Blockchain for Impact Global Summit at the United Nations in 2018, the CFTC Commissioner emphasized that "virtual currencies" are not going away and they will "proliferate to every economy and every part of the planet." However, he also noted that these assets could be a "weapon against the work of the United Nations and others trying to alleviate poverty or violence."
iHodl earlier reported, that the White House is also considering Saule Omarova, to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). After failure with two previous choices, the Biden administration is in early stages of vetting Omarova for this role.
Omarova emphasized in academic writings the necessity for banks to stay away from the cryptocurrency business as she considered this sector as a digital Wild West. She noted that cryptocurrency-related operations would allow banks to hide their trading activity from the Federal Reserve supervision.
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