The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has appointed new members to the Global Market Advisory Committee (GMAC) and subcommittees, and has added several crypto industry leaders to the Digital Asset Market Subcommittee (DAMS).
Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline D. Famme has appointed four new dam members. Avery Ching, co-founder and chief technology officer of Aptos Labs. James J. Hill, Managing Director and Head of Innovation at BNY. Ben Sherwin, legal counsel for ChainLink Labs;
Additionally, Scott Lucas, the head of digital assets at JP Morgan, has been appointed co-chair of the dam along with Sandy Cowl, executive vice president of Franklin Templeton. They replace Caroline Butler, who previously co-chaired.
“We look forward to working with the committee and broader industry partners to shape a clear and effective regulatory framework in a fully structured digital asset market,” Lucas said in a statement.
Kaul added that he aims to continue to mainstream digital assets innovation.
DAMS was created to provide expert guidance on cryptocurrency, blockchain and tokenized markets to CFTC, so it works to advise agents on risks and opportunities, develop policy recommendations, and fill traditional and decentralized funds.
Fam was designated acting chairman of the CFTC on President Donald Trump’s inauguration day in January and served as commissioner since April 2022.
Related: US Senate Democrats provide a competing framework for crypto market structure
Wall Street deepens blockchain bets as industrial regulations become established
The latest appointment highlights the growing bridge between traditional and decentralized finances, and highlights strong engagement from major Wall Street companies that see opportunities for tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, and settlement infrastructure.
Through its partnership with Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon has actively pivoted into tokenized money market funds, allowing BNY clients to access money market products with ownership recorded on Goldman’s private blockchain.
JPMorgan is one of the Wall Street companies exploring Stablecoins and Crypto Backed Lending. According to a July report by the Financial Times, some insiders said CEO Jamie Dimon’s past remarks about Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain has strained relationships with certain clients.
Adoptions are on the backdrop of favorable regulations, with President Trump signing the law on the Genius Act, and the House has passed both the market structure and the anti-CBDC bill, and is currently moving to the Senate for consideration.
At the same time, the CFTC is in line with the White House Procrypto Agenda. Acting Chair Fam has launched a “Cipher Sprint” to implement recommendations from the president’s working group on the digital asset market. The central goal is to clarify how jurisdiction over digital assets is divided between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Related: Crypto Biz: Rails, Rigs and Regulation – The New Crypto Economy
