• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has appointed a new Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) with members from the crypto industry, including Circle vice president of global policy Corey Then and Paradigm’s Policy Director Justin Slaughter.
• The committee will hold its first meeting on March 22nd and will include executives from IBM, Amazon, CME Group, and Cboe Global Markets.
• Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero is sponsoring the TAC to help the CFTC better understand blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets.

CFTC’s New Tech Advisory Committee

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced the addition of key industry members to form the newly constituted Technology Advisory Committee (TAC). White House official Carole House was appointed as Chair while blockchain analysis company TRM Labs’ Ari Redboard was named Vice-Chair of this committee.

Committee Members

The TAC included various industry experts such as Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer, Circle vice president of global policy Corey Then, FireBlocks co-founder and CEO Michael Shaulov, Paradigm’s Policy Director Justin Slaughter, Inca Digital CEO Adam Zarazinski and blockchain auditor Trail of Bits co-founder Dan Guid. It also featured professors from university law schools like Cornell, Washington College of Law and University of Michigan. This representation signals the agency’s push to regulate cryptocurrency markets in contrast to other regulatory watchdogs in US who have been hostile while dealing with asset class.

Sponsor

Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero is sponsoring this TAC in order to help CFTC better understand blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. She took office last March with an aim to update regulations regarding cryptocurrency trading platforms that deal with digital assets classified as commodities by US federal laws.

Meeting Date

The first meeting for this committee has been scheduled for March 22nd to discuss various topics such as monitoring market data analytics tools used by exchanges that trade digital assets classified as commodities under US federal laws; AI/ML techniques used by firms offering services related to commodities; assessing CFTC’s current understanding of distributed ledger technology; etc.

Implication

This consultation could potentially lead to changes in regulation which would benefit both consumers as well as businesses operating in this space by bringing clarity around certain aspects. It could also encourage innovation within this sector leading to more efficient trading practices that are compliant with applicable laws and regulations at all times