Former CFTC chairman expected to become the first "encryption czar", stating that Crypto is a "top priority" for the Trump administration.

Former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, a strong contender to become the US’s first ‘Crypto Czar’, a new position being considered by President Trump that could be responsible for regulating the $3 trillion Block chain industry. Giancarlo, known as ‘Crypto Dad’ for his work in clarifying regulatory work during his two-year tenure (including paving the way for BTC futures to trade on US exchanges), said in an interview on Wednesday that he had turned down positions with the CFTC and US SEC. ‘Trump has been very specific about a series of initiatives to make the US the capital of cryptocurrency,’ Giancarlo said, referring to Trump’s speech at the BTC 2024 conference in Nashville in July. He said this includes ‘building a strategic BTC reserve, establishing a Cryptocurrency committee, and ensuring people have the ability to self-custody their wallets.’ In other areas, he discussed capital gains tax exemptions for domestic cryptocurrency earnings, ending cryptocurrency bank de-risking (also known as ‘Choke Point 2.0’), and new rules and regulations through the CFTC and SEC, as well as Stable Coin legislation. As a key member of Trump’s transition team, Giancarlo added that cryptocurrency will be a ‘major priority’ for the new government. Despite being a cryptocurrency skeptic in the past, Trump has maintained a good relationship with industry insiders over the past year during his re-election campaign and made many promises to improve the outlook for the US cryptocurrency industry. ‘As a candidate, they are usually not very specific. I think Trump is very specific about what he is going to do,’ he said, noting that Trump is surrounded by advocates for cryptocurrency, such as Elon Musk, head of the government efficiency department, and Vivek Ramaswamy. (The Block)