Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. So joining us to
Speaker 1: discuss a state of crypto, especially under the Trump administration
Speaker 1: is CFTC Commissioner Summer Mercinger. She is leaving the CFTC
Speaker 1: at the end of the month and will become the
Speaker 1: next CEO of the Blockchain Association. I also want to
Speaker 1: bring in Bloomberg Crypto co host Tim Stenewick for this conversation. Summer,
Speaker 1: let me ask you, just right off the bat, what
Speaker 1: are your hopes for the stable coin bill? What does
Speaker 1: it signify for the industry if and when it does
Speaker 1: pass the entire Senate.
Speaker 2: It signifies that this asset class is clearly here to stay,
Speaker 2: that it's been embraced in the United States, and we
Speaker 2: really are going to make the United States the forefront
Speaker 2: of economic power that we could see from these tokens
Speaker 2: and this asset class.
Speaker 3: Summer serious, why specifically you are leaving the CFTC. I mean,
Speaker 3: your term wasn't set to be over until twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 3: You could have stayed for that long, and you said
Speaker 3: it was in your statement last week that it was
Speaker 3: heartbreaking to actually decide to leave the CFTC. So why leave?
Speaker 2: That's a great question, and I did really struggle with
Speaker 2: this decision. One thing I had to think about is
Speaker 2: we have a very strong incoming chairman who has a
Speaker 2: great voice for the crypto industry and will be a
Speaker 2: real advocate for the industry and the agency at large.
Speaker 2: I really do feel like I also have a good
Speaker 2: voice that I can bring to this debate, that I
Speaker 2: can bring to this industry and help us get across
Speaker 2: the finish line and a number of priorities, one being
Speaker 2: courts the stable prints legislation, but also the market Structure bill.
Speaker 2: And really I think the best place for me to
Speaker 2: contribute to that is through this opportunity that I have
Speaker 2: coming up with a blockchain Association. So while it was
Speaker 2: very hard to make the decision and to leave my
Speaker 2: post before I was done with my term, I really
Speaker 2: do think as far as being able to contribute to
Speaker 2: the process, I will have this great opportunity to do
Speaker 2: so from the association.
Speaker 3: Do you think you would have stayed if you were
Speaker 3: picked by the President to be the acting Commissioner? Your
Speaker 3: name was certainly one on the list, Yes.
Speaker 2: And certainly that would have played into it. I think
Speaker 2: timing wise, that would have played part of the role
Speaker 2: as well. But you know, I think the President and
Speaker 2: his team did a great job of picking very strong
Speaker 2: leaders for this agency and for the other financial regulators
Speaker 2: as well, and I fully support the decisions that they made,
Speaker 2: and I am hoping that I can continue to work
Speaker 2: closely with the current acting chair and the incoming chair
Speaker 2: and my new role.
Speaker 1: So, bigger picture, what rolled you envision for the CFTC
Speaker 1: as a crypto reregulator now that you are moving on
Speaker 1: to the industry to lead the Blockchain Association.
Speaker 2: CFTC is uniquely positioned to be the right regulator for
Speaker 2: the crypto spot market. We already have a lot of
Speaker 2: regulatory oversight of trading that happens in the futures markets
Speaker 2: on some of these assets. We are market regulators, so
Speaker 2: we are uniquely qualified to really watch over the market
Speaker 2: to make sure it's functioning, that it's liquid, that it's vibrant.
Speaker 2: And we have an existing enforcement authority over a lot
Speaker 2: of these areas already, so we are uniquely qualified. We're
Speaker 2: also a global regulator. All of our markets are global.
Speaker 2: These markets are global as well, and so that it
Speaker 2: kind of puts us in this position of being ready
Speaker 2: for that level of jurisdiction.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people who are watching the
Speaker 3: industry closely are curious about sort of what's in the
Speaker 3: pipeline on a regulatory front, and perhaps whether or not
Speaker 3: you actually expect perpetual crypto futures to be approved in
Speaker 3: the US in the near future. Is that something you
Speaker 3: think could happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. In fact, I think those can come to
Speaker 2: market now, and we're seeing some applications, and I believe
Speaker 2: we'll have some of those products trading live very soon.
Speaker 2: It will be great to get that trading back on
Speaker 2: shore in the United States. I think it's unfortunate that
Speaker 2: it has been driven off short for so long, and
Speaker 2: the fact that we can have that here in the
Speaker 2: US and under our regulatory framework is a really good
Speaker 2: thing for these markets and will be really beneficial to
Speaker 2: the industry broadly and to our economy here in the
Speaker 2: United States.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people are curious, as an
Speaker 3: outgoing regulator about political involvement at the CFTC and to
Speaker 3: what extent this organization is actually free from political influence.
Speaker 3: What would you say to somebody asking that.
Speaker 2: We've been historically bipartisan. You know, part of that comes
Speaker 2: from the fact that our over our oversight committee at
Speaker 2: the House and Senate, or the House and Senet agriculture
Speaker 2: committees which tend to be or bipartisan than other committees,
Speaker 2: and the Congress, and you know, as just a case
Speaker 2: in point, I think probably some of my biggest compromise
Speaker 2: where I worked closely with probably with the most progressive
Speaker 2: member of our commission commission, Goldsmith Romero. We work together
Speaker 2: on a number of issues. We voted together quite a bit,
Speaker 2: and it was kind of proof that we do work
Speaker 2: in a bipartisan manner where you know, even though we
Speaker 2: are from different parties, we come together to do what's
Speaker 2: fast for the markets.
Speaker 1: Nevertheless, come June, the CFTC will just have two of
Speaker 1: five commissioners and that looks to a lot of people
Speaker 1: like a leadership gap. But we also see a lot
Speaker 1: of the independent agencies of which the CFTC is one
Speaker 1: kind of being stripped of resources of people as Doge
Speaker 1: and the White House overall try to fin the ranks
Speaker 1: of federal employees. What kind of balance of power is
Speaker 1: there in Washington if everything seems to run through the
Speaker 1: White House. I guess it's another way of asking, could
Speaker 1: we see a market disruption, a market event, you know,
Speaker 1: undesirable events taking place in future's options. If there's less
Speaker 1: folks at the CFTC, yeah, I don't have that concern.
Speaker 2: We have a very strong staff. Our agency has always
Speaker 2: done an amazing job of staying up on the markets
Speaker 2: and ensuring that they are free from manipulation and anything
Speaker 2: that would be a kind of non economical impact on
Speaker 2: market movement. And we've done that through many volatile times
Speaker 2: with you know, sometimes two commissioners, sometimes a full slate
Speaker 2: of commissioners, but the agency is very flexible and is
Speaker 2: able to adapt quickly and just overall on the kind
Speaker 2: of power structure, I think, you know, the Trump administration
Speaker 2: has their their way of viewing this administration, and you know,
Speaker 2: I fully respect that, and I do think that the
Speaker 2: independent agency will continue to do what it was put
Speaker 2: place to do and oversee the derivative markets and make
Speaker 2: sure that they continue to offer the utility that they
Speaker 2: are supposed to offer, which is price discovery and hedging.
Speaker 3: Commissioner Mercinger. We've got a story out now speaking of
Speaker 3: the Trump administration that says that since the early days
Speaker 3: of the reelection campaign, the president has essentially doubled his
Speaker 3: net worth more than doubled it to five point four
Speaker 3: billion dollars, more than five hundred million of doubt that,
Speaker 3: according to our reporting, comes from sales of just one
Speaker 3: of his crypto ventures, not to mention the Meme coins,
Speaker 3: the Trump digital trading cards. There are critics out there
Speaker 3: who say that he's too close and too involved with
Speaker 3: the crypto industry. They're worried about pay to play. What
Speaker 3: do you say.
Speaker 2: I worry that this distracts from the arguments that we
Speaker 2: need to be focused on right now. It's time for
Speaker 2: the US to unlock this the economic power of the
Speaker 2: crypto markets in the United States. It's time to bring
Speaker 2: this trading activity on shore. In order to do that,
Speaker 2: we do need things like the stable point Life legislation
Speaker 2: that's moving through the Senate. We do need to have
Speaker 2: a market structure bill, and that needs to be our
Speaker 2: focus right now. So I think some of this just
Speaker 2: becomes a distraction from what is really the most important,
Speaker 2: you know, important thing here, which is providing a regulatory
Speaker 2: framework so that we can have these markets on shore
Speaker 2: and in a space where US retail customers can access
Speaker 2: these markets in a safe space with the proper regulatory oversight.
Speaker 3: Just to clarifyer, are you saying that the president's involvement
Speaker 3: in the industry is a distraction or the critics are
Speaker 3: a distraction.
Speaker 2: I'm saying the critics are using it as a distraction
Speaker 2: away from what you really needs to get done, and
Speaker 2: I think that's unfortunate.
Speaker 1: So is a meme coin dinner that the president is
Speaker 1: hosting later on tonight a distraction? Excuse me attending, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I haven't paid too much attention to this headline,
Speaker 2: so I don't really know. I don't have a lot
Speaker 2: to comment on it. I think for me as as
Speaker 2: a regulator in my current role, you know, I'm more
Speaker 2: focused on where the broader industry is and what you
Speaker 2: know they're focused on. They're on the hill, they're working
Speaker 2: on the stable claim legislation, they're meeting with staff, they're
Speaker 2: working on the framework for the market structure bill, and that,
Speaker 2: to me is really where my focus and energy has
Speaker 2: been throughout this debate.
Speaker 1: Summermersing are the outgoing commissioner of the CFTC. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much, And of course, Bloomberg's Tim stun A, a co
Speaker 1: host of Bloomberg Crypto, really appreciate it,