New CFTC Chairman Makes Key Hires for ‘Future-Proof’ Initiative
Michael Selig’s push to “future-proof” the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is taking shape. On Tuesday, CFTC Chair Selig announced that he hired two senior advisors to help his agency prepare for the future.
The appointments of Michael Passalacqua and Cal Mitchell coincide with Selig’s Washington Post op-ed, in which he touted his upcoming future-proofing program.
According to the CFTC’s press release, Passalacqua helped secure no-action relief allowing state-chartered trust companies to hold crypto assets. His firm noted the no-action relief was “particularly noteworthy for registered funds, which historically have not invested directly in crypto assets, in part, because of the ambiguity that the letter resolves.”
Mitchell led “the agency’s [Department of the Treasury] nominations portfolio to confirm President Trump’s nominees through the U.S. Senate.” Mitchell rose to his Treasury Department position after about two years as Senator Bill Hagerty’s personal aide.
CFTC’s groundwork for crypto regulation
Selig published an op-ed on Tuesday outlining his vision for the CFTC’s approach to crypto regulations. He used it to argue for a more modern set of rules governing new markets in like crypto and prediction markets:
“While decades-old rules designed for agricultural futures contracts may still suit those markets today, they do not contemplate nascent products or trading venues…As part of this [Future-Proof] initiative, the CFTC’s staff will undertake a comprehensive review of the agency’s existing rules and regulations and modernize these requirements to ensure a level playing field for new entrants and incumbents alike.”
While 1920s regulators may well have been baffled by event contracts, Selig has not detailed his proposed changes to CFTC rule-making. The agency’s only action on event contracts has been a new no-action letter for record-keeping. Aside from an acknowledgement that prediction markets have “exploded in popularity,” Selig appears more focused on regulated crypto assets.
Prediction markets part of a larger prize
Prediction markets have secured partnerships with media organizations and sports teams, and have attracted vast mainstream attention. They are also the smaller part of the CFTC’s larger “modernization” project.
Monthly trade volume in prediction markets has risen from $100 million to over $13 billion from early 2024 to the end of 2025. That growth is explosive in part because prediction markets are so new.
By comparison, the cryptocurrency industry’s market cap was $3.2 trillion in November 2024.
As the CFTC makes it easier for firms to trade and hold crypto, prediction markets will benefit from the CFTC’s enthusiasm for innovation across its markets.