Acting CFTC chair to join MoonPay after leaving agency

cointelegraphPublished on 2025-12-17Last updated on 2025-12-17

Abstract

Caroline Pham, acting chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will leave the agency to join crypto payments firm MoonPay as chief legal and administrative officer. Her departure follows the Senate confirmation of her successor. Pham, the sole Republican commissioner, became acting chair in January. She had initially planned to leave after Brian Quintenz’s confirmation, but his nomination was withdrawn. Pham is the latest high-level regulator to move into the crypto industry, following former CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger, who joined the Blockchain Association. During her tenure, Pham’s agenda aligned with White House directives, and she launched initiatives like the Crypto CEO Forum. The move highlights concerns about the "revolving door" between regulators and the crypto industry, as previously criticized by Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Caroline Pham, the acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will leave the financial regulator to join MoonPay, following the Senate confirmation of her successor.

In a Wednesday X post, MoonPay confirmed reports that Pham would join its team as a chief legal and administrative officer. She became acting chair in January amid the changeover in presidential administrations and has been the sole Republican commissioner at the CFTC for months, following the end of other leaders’ terms and resignations.

Pham said in May that she planned to leave the CFTC following the Senate confirmation of Brian Quintenz, US President Donald Trump’s first pick to replace her as chair. However, after a pushback from Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the White House withdrew Quintenz’s nomination and later named Securities and Exchange Commission official Michael Selig as the president’s pick for CFTC chair.

The acting CFTC chair would not be the first person in a high-level regulatory position to immediately move into a role with the crypto industry. Summer Mersinger, another CFTC commissioner, left the agency in May to become the CEO of the Blockchain Association, a crypto advocacy group.

Related: Exodus, MoonPay to roll out stablecoin in early 2026, joining gold rush

During her time as acting chair, Pham’s agenda was consistent with White House directives, including those related to the cryptocurrency industry. She reported in September that the CFTC had taken only 18 actions while she was in charge, and no enforcement cases.

The acting chair also launched the Crypto CEO Forum and CEO Innovation Council, which included leaders from crypto companies.

US Senator calls out crypto industry for ‘revolving door’ hiring strategies

Before Mersinger joined the Blockchain Association and MoonPay announced Pham would accept a role after her departure from the CFTC, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren suggested that some government officials could be laying the groundwork to “audition” for lobbying and regulatory positions at crypto companies and organizations.

Warren signed onto a 2022 letter with several other lawmakers raising similar concerns about public officials’ priorities while in office. The letter cited reports claiming that “over 200 government officials,” including members of Congress and White House staff, had taken positions as advisers, board members, investors, lobbyists, legal counsel and executives at crypto companies.

Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice

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