With a confirmation any minute of Mike Selig to take over the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, its stand-in chief, Caroline Pham, is closer to her long-held plan to jump to crypto firm MoonPay.
As CoinDesk reported last month, Pham is said to be planning to take on the role of chief legal officer and chief administrative officer at the company, a crypto-focused financial technology company that just obtained a New York trust charter last month. It’s a path further confirmed by the company Wednesday, including a statement from Pham acknowledging her transition once she’s replaced by President Donald Trump’s nominee, Selig.
“I am excited to join MoonPay at a pivotal time,” Pham said in an unusual career memo that appeared before the regulator’s departure. Pham also wrote on social media X Wednesday that once Selig is sworn in, she looks forward to “a smooth transition.”
“The future is bright,” she said.
The former Citigroup CEO has led an aggressive agenda pushing crypto-friendly policies, which has come to the fore with several new initiatives established in the past few weeks as Selig’s confirmation process moved forward in the Senate. He is expected to be approved as part of a massive package of nominees in a vote currently scheduled for Wednesday night.
Selig is an official at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, where he has helped with the agency’s work on crypto policy.
“Caroline is one of the most influential leaders in US financial regulation helping to define the future of digital assets,” Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and CEO of MoonPay, said in a statement, calling her the “perfect leader to guide MoonPay through our next chapter of growth and compliance excellence.”
At the company, which also holds a New York BitLicense and handles crypto trading, payments and stablecoin infrastructure, Pham will oversee its policy and regulatory strategy in Washington. It is not directly regulated by the CFTC.
Read more: Most influential: Caroline Pham
