CFTC Names Executives From Circle, TRM, Fireblocks Among Others to New Tech Advisory Group

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said former White House official Carole House would be the new chair, and blockchain analysis company TRM Labs' Ari Redbord as the vice chair, of the regulator's Technology Advisory Committee.

The CFTC published a list of its members to the newly constituted committee on Monday, according to "sponsor" Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero, who took office last March.

"To protect our markets from increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks, to ensure responsible development of digital assets in a way that protects customers and to ensure that the implications of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are well understood, the Commission requires advice from technology experts," Goldsmith Romero said in a statement. "These experts can provide us foundational knowledge about the technology, as well as the complex and nuanced impacts and implications of technology on financial markets," she added.

The Technology Advisory Committee was previously sponsored by former CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz, who is now the head of policy at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

House, who helped develop U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order on crypto, is now an executive-in-residence at Terranet Ventures. Redbord was also previously at the U.S. Treasury Department.

Other crypto industry representatives to the committee include Circle Vice President Corey Then, Espresso Systems Chief Strategy Officer Jill Gunter, Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov, Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer, Paradigm policy director Justin Slaughter, Trail of Bits CEO Dan Guido and Lightspark Chief Strategy Officer Christian Catalini, who may be better known for his work on the Diem (formerly Libra) stablecoin project.

More traditional industry representatives include IBM Fellow and AI ethics head Francesca Rossi, S&P Global Commodity Insights' chief technology and innovation officer Stanley Guzik, ICE Futures U.S. President Jennifer Ilkiw, National Futures Association data director Todd Smith, CME Chief Information Officer Sunil Cutinho and Cboe Digital President John Palmer.

A number of representatives from academia have also joined, including American University law professor Hilary Allen, Michigan Law School assistant professor Jeffery Zhang and Cornell Law School professor Daniel Awrey.

The federal government is also represented: Federal Reserve Board deputy associate director Kavita Jain and deputy assistant secretary of Treasury Todd Conklin have roles at the committee.

The committee will hold its first meeting on March 22, when it will consider renewing the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, create a new Subcommittee on Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology that combines and expands two previous TAC subcommittees, and establish a new Subcommittee on Emerging Technologies, the CFTC press release said.