CFTC selects Harry Jung to lead crypto engagement under interim leadership

Harry Jung has been appointed as the Acting Chief of Staff to oversee the CFTC’s crypto engagement, digital assets, and DeFi. Caroline Pham, the Acting Chair, announced the appointment on Wednesday. 

President Donald Trump named Caroline Pham interim chair for the agency to push essential changes through an entirely new staff. Once confirmed by her commission colleagues, she began replacing top officials who had worked for previous CFTC Chair Behnam.

On Wednesday, Pham transitioned her former top leadership members into their new roles. In her statement, she expressed profound thanks to Chairman Behnam and his team for their time in office. She acknowledged that the staff members performing temporary duties possess the right abilities.

Jung worked side by side with Pham while she was a commissioner at the CFTC. He began working at the CFTC in 2023 after leading digital asset and regulatory engagement at Citigroup during several COO and executive jobs. He also joined Morgan Stanley and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and worked at the firm.

CFTC awaits permanent leadership 

Apart from Jung, Pham also selected her previous Chief of Staff, Meghan Tente, as Acting General Counsel, Public Affairs Director Taylor Foy as her temporary replacement, and Nick Elliot as Acting Director for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Despite recent personnel changes, President Trump has yet to find someone to put in permanent charge of the CFTC. Behnam ended his chair service on Inauguration Day, but Congress will formally remove him from office on February 7. People expect former Commissioner Brian Quintenz to take the lead at CFTC soon.

Through her Digital Asset Markets subcommittee and calls for a technology innovation sandbox, Pham has taken the lead in digital asset supervision. She expressed gratitude to Trump for putting his trust in her and looked ahead to working with everyone “to promote well-functioning markets that support economic growth and the competitiveness of the United States.”

However, the future leadership of the CFTC depends on appointing new permanent chair personnel.