(Bloomberg) -- US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam plans to resign from the role on Jan. 20.
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Behnam will leave the commission on Feb. 7, according to a statement Tuesday from the derivative-market regulator.
“Over the past several years, a multitude of domestic and global events tested the resilience of all financial markets,” Behnam said in the statement. “I am proud that the commission consistently made deliberate and intentional decisions to ensure continued strength.”
As chairman, Behnam advocated for legislation to make the agency the main Bitcoin regulator and give it oversight of cryptocurrency exchanges. The agency also scrutinized and sometimes tried to block companies that let Americans bet on US election outcomes.
Legislative efforts to give crypto authority to the agency failed during Behnam’s tenure, but momentum has shifted with Republicans set to control Congress and the White House. The CFTC’s jurisdiction could expand dramatically, perhaps including major tokens like Bitcoin and Ether.
“Folks recognize the market is here. It’s not going to change or go away,” Behnam said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “And the CFTC is going to be at the center of that new regulatory regime, whatever comes out.”
Broader Purview
Behnam, who was previously an aide to former Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, joined the CFTC as a commissioner in 2017. He became acting chairman in 2021 and was sworn in a year later.
The CFTC has been “stretched thin” as it deals with new markets, asset classes and participants, Behnam said in an Oct. 22 interview with Bloomberg Television.
The next CFTC chair will have to tackle regulating digital assets and so-called event contracts. The latter allows traders to stake money on topics ranging from momentous to ephemeral, such as who will become the Senate majority leader, whether Billie Eilish wins the Grammy award for song of the year, and the day’s high temperature in Chicago.
Political prediction markets catapulted into public prominence in the lead-up to the November elections, but the regulatory landscape for them is in limbo due to pending court cases and rule-making efforts.
Behnam, who has said he didn’t want the agency to be an “elections cop,” has waged a losing court fight with Kalshi Inc., a CFTC-regulated exchange that lets US customers bet on political contests.