President Donald Trump has selected Michael Selig, chief counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto task force, to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Selig's nomination, first reported by Bloomberg, marks Trump's second attempt to fill the CFTC's top post, following the stalled nomination of Brian Quintenz, a16z crypto's global policy chief, amid opposition from Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss. Selig, who serves as an aide to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, has been instrumental in coordinating regulatory approaches between the SEC and CFTC on financial and crypto market oversight. The CFTC, which regulates futures, swaps, and prediction markets, is gaining greater prominence as Congress considers new crypto market structure legislation. Before joining the SEC, he was a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, specializing in asset management. Selig's appointment will require Senate confirmation.
Robinhood Markets Inc. is exploring an expansion of its prediction markets product to countries outside of the US, a move that would broaden the reach of the already fast-growing and often controversial industry. The brokerage has been speaking to overseas regulators like the UK's Financial Conduct Authority about how it might offer prediction markets locally, as demand for the space continues to grow.