Trump’s former CFTC chair eyed for ‘crypto czar’ role

“Crypto Dad” Chris Giancarlo has emerged as a leading contender to become the first-ever “crypto czar,” a possible new administration position the Trump transition team is weighing to help foster growth in the $3 trillion digital asset market, FOX Business has learned.

Giancarlo, 65, is a lawyer and the former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during President-elect Trump’s first term in the White House. He has been a key member of the new Trump transition team both before Nov. 5 and after Trump won a resounding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on a platform that promised a more regulatory-friendly environment for crypto and the potentially revolutionary blockchain technology that facilitates transactions using digital assets.

Over the past few weeks, he has taken himself out of the running to head the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but has told top officials in the transition orbit that he is open to the crypto czar position. FOX Business has learned that Trump, after meeting with top crypto executives such as Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong and Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse, appears open to creating such a position, and Giancarlo, with his Washington, D.C., credentials and deep understanding of policy implementation, is currently a frontrunner for the job.

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During the campaign, Trump courted the crypto industry for campaign cash, vowing to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on day one of his second White House term because of the Biden administration’s heavy-handed regulatory approach. As part of Trump’s pitch, the president-elect said he would create a crypto presidential advisory council to usher in a new era of crypto-friendly policies and legislation during his first 100 days. The crypto czar could play a role in the operation of the advisory council.

To be sure, nothing is certain in the Trump world, as the drama over his still unnamed selection of Treasury secretary demonstrates. The Trump transition team has not officially announced that it intends to create the crypto czar role or the advisory panel. In fact, the team has been tight-lipped about any progress in creating the new crypto advisory panel, how much authority it might wield in the new administration and who might serve to lead the effort.

FOX Business is first to report that Giancarlo is at the top of the list to serve as the group’s leader if the panel is assembled. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter say other potential candidates may arise in the coming days and weeks if the panel becomes formalized.

A member of the Trump transition team had no immediate comment on the matter.

Giancarlo told FOX Business, “I would be honored to be considered for the role,” but he declined further comment.

FOX Business has learned that the notion of a crypto czar was broached in a recent meeting between Trump and Armstrong, the Coinbase CEO. The idea has been gaining traction on X in recent days with many industry leaders, including Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and former Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, weighing in on who should get the coveted role.

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Former President Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 27. (Reuters/Kevin Wurm/File Photo / Reuters Photos)

Trump appointed Giancarlo as CFTC chairman in 2017, when he led the regulation of bitcoin futures. Giancarlo is now senior counsel at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and on the advisory board of blockchain advocacy group the Chamber of Digital Commerce and stablecoin company Paxos. He is often referred to as “Crypto Dad” (and has a published autobiography by the same name) because of his longtime advocacy for the development of blockchain technology and the advancement of digital assets. Giancarlo is also the founder and director of the Digital Dollar Project, a nonprofit initiative to explore the digital future of the U.S. dollar in all forms, including stablecoins.

Many in the crypto industry, and even Trump himself, have denounced the implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which many see as a threat to privacy, and which the Digital Dollar Project promotes research into. It is unclear whether this would count against Giancarlo, who has said he does not advocate for a federal CBDC but believes that the dollar must be ready for the coming digital future of money.

So-called “czars” refer to people in government that are given authority to push for certain policies. They can be outside advisers or have roles inside government, such as Harris’ duties as President Biden’s border czar. Former President Obama appointed 38 people to such roles; Trump, during his first term, appointed just four.

Appointing a crypto czar with significant powers to work with Congress and inside the administrative state would be significant. Wall Street’s top regulators, the SEC and the CFTC, have been leading the charge to regulate the still nascent industry under the Biden administration. Both agencies, particularly the SEC, have chosen to use an enforcement blitz not just to crack down on abuse, but also to set rules of business conduct, which crypto executives say has stymied U.S. crypto growth while pushing innovation overseas. Top crypto executives have made this point to Trump in a series of post-election meetings with the incoming president, and he is said to be receptive to creating a czar position to change the direction of crypto policy and regulation.

The seal of the Securities and Exchange Commission hangs on the wall at SEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Photos)

FOX Business has learned that among the policies that the czar will be pushing are creating a framework for the $180 billion stablecoin market and possibly working with financial regulators to create safe harbors for U.S. businesses operating in the space. This would also free up the SEC and CFTC to handle its myriad of other responsibilities in regulating the U.S. markets, people close to the matter say.

As crypto executives have pushed for the panel with the president-elect, some of his advisers remain wary of the prospect, people with direct knowledge of the matter say. They see panels and czars as a needless expansion of government and the deep state that Trump has vowed to eradicate.

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However, that has not stopped top crypto officials from pushing the panel as a way to streamline regulation and crypto polices as well as others from vying for the top position. Other possible czar names the industry has floated include David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Inc., the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine, which hosts the annual Bitcoin Conference where Trump headlined in Nashville, Tennessee, this summer, as well as Brian Morgenstern, public policy chief at bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms. 

Both men raised money for Trump while on the campaign trail. 

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FOX Business has confirmed that Bailey has been advising the Trump transition team on its crypto-related decisions, including putting names forward for the advisory council, as well as names the industry would like to see serve in key financial regulatory positions.

Bailey and Morgenstern had no comment.