Caroline Pham, one of the Republican commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will take over the agency on an interim basis as President Donald Trump’s administration shifts US policy toward a friendlier relationship with digital assets.

The CFTC is poised to become a leading federal watchdog for crypto, and Pham confirmed Monday that she is taking the reins as acting chairman at a time of great potential transition for the agency. Most of the early legislative efforts to establish a digital asset roadmap envision the CFTC taking over regulation of crypto spot markets for widely traded tokens such as bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum’s ether (ETH). These past bills are expected to be the basis for crypto work in the new Congress.

“It is an honor to be entrusted with serving the American people at this crucial time,” Pham said in a statement. “I want to thank President Trump for his confidence in me, and I am grateful to my colleagues and the CFTC staff for their support. I look forward to engaging with all stakeholders in this new capacity as we focus on the CFTC’s mission to promote well-functioning markets that support economic growth and competitiveness in the United States.”

The five-member commission voted to elevate Pham in accordance with the new president’s wishes. The agency generally defers such an election until the election of the incoming majority party leadership.

The decision has not yet been officially announced by the agency.

Pham will lead the CFTC until Trump can nominate and the Senate can confirm a permanent selection. It is unclear whether she will also be a front-runner for the full presidency, although her name is routinely mentioned on the short list for the role.

More: This CFTC Commissioner Doesn’t Believe in ‘Gotcha’ Crypto Regulation

During her tenure at the agency, she has spent significant time chairing the Global Markets Advisory Committee, which she led to examine potential approaches to monitoring digital assets. In 2023, she launched a pilot crypto surveillance program.

Pham had been a senior executive at Citigroup, and she has said she was responsible for Citi’s crypto portfolio during her time there, in the very early days of the industry.

Outgoing CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam previously announced that he would step down as chairman on Inauguration Day, joining Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler, who also said he would step down at noon ET, when Trump was sworn in. Behnam is set to leave his commission. space in February.

The remaining four commissioners at the CFTC include Pham, fellow Republican Summer Mersinger and Democrats Christy Goldsmith Romero and Kristin Johnson.

UPDATE (January 20, 2025, 18:04 UTC): Adding comment from Caroline Pham.