Summer Mersinger, one of four commissioners currently serving at the US financial regulatory body Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will become the next CEO of the digital asset advocacy group the Blockchain Association (BA).
In a May 14 notice, the Blockchain Association said its current CEO, Kristin Smith, would be stepping down for Mersinger on May 16, allowing an interim head of the group to work until the CFTC commissioner assumes the role on June 2. Though her term at the CFTC was expected to last until April 2028, the Association said Mersinger is set to leave the agency on May 30.
The departure of Mersinger, who has served in one of the CFTC’s Republican seats since 2022, opens the way for President Donald Trump to nominate another member to the financial regulator. Rules require that no more than three commissioners belong to the same political party.
Like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the CFTC is one of the significant US financial regulators whose policies impact digital assets. Lawmakers in Congress are currently working to pass a market structure bill to clarify the roles each agency could take in overseeing and regulating crypto.
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New leadership at the BA had been expected since Smith announced her departure on April 1 to become the next president of the Solana Policy Institute. A spokesperson for the Blockchain Association did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Some of the biggest crypto firms in the US, including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Chainlink Labs, are members of the BA. According to its website, the organization claims to “support a future-forward, pro-innovation national policy and regulatory framework for the crypto economy.”
Changing the leadership at a major US financial regulator
A nominee of former President Joe Biden, Mersinger has called for standardized crypto-related policies and said the CFTC was the “ideal regulator for the cryptocurrency spot market.” Some expected she would lead the regulator following the election of Donald Trump and the departure of CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam, but Commissioner Caroline Pham took on the role in an acting capacity in January.
Trump chose former commissioner Brian Quintenz to chair the CFTC in February, but his nomination has not moved through the Senate for a vote in roughly three months. Any CFTC commissioner picked by the president needs a majority vote to be confirmed for a five-year term or to fill in for a resigning member.
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This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
