Original Title: "Who is at the CFTC Table? A Reallocation of the Discourse Power of American Innovative Finance"
Original Author: KarenZ, Foresight News
On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officially released Notice No. 9182-26, announcing the list of members of the Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC).
If you think this is just a routine list of external advisors for a regulatory agency, you are completely mistaken.
This list, which brings together traditional financial giants, leading platforms in the crypto industry, DeFi infrastructure providers, top venture capital firms, and academic representatives, is not just a simple gathering of industry advisors but a key step for the CFTC in establishing a collaborative framework for regulating the innovative financial market based on the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
This Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC), led by CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig, evolved from the former Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). From its initial intention to its final composition, it clearly conveys one message: the U.S. regulatory body is actively embracing crypto and financial technology innovation, shifting from "passive regulation" to "collaborative governance."
Full Lineup: From Exchanges, DeFi to Traditional Finance
Unlike previous regulatory agencies inviting one or two crypto representatives to "dress up," the current IAC member list from the CFTC can be described as an "all-star lineup," consisting of 35 members from traditional financial giants, crypto trading platforms, DeFi protocols, blockchain infrastructure, investment institutions, academic representatives, and more.
1. CEX
· Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong
· Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi
· Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss
· Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek
· Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev
· Blockchain.com CEO Peter Smith
· Bullish CEO Tom Farley
· Bitnomial CEO Luke Hoersten
2. Prediction Markets
· Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan
· Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
· FanDuel President Christian Genetski
· DraftKings CEO Jason Robins
3. DeFi and Public Chain Foundations
· Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams
· Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse
· Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko
· Chainlink Labs CEO Sergey Nazarov
· Ethereum promotion and product startup Etherealize CEO Vivek Raman
4. Top Crypto Venture Capital
· a16z crypto Managing Partner Chris Dixon
· Paradigm Managing Partner Alana Palmedo
· Framework Ventures Co-founder Vance Spencer
5. Digital Asset Custody and Asset Management
· Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley
· Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg
6. Traditional Finance and Clearing, Trading Institutions
· Options clearing company Option Clearing Corporation CEO Andrej Bolkovic
· Derivatives trading and clearing platform Rothera Markets CEO Thomas Chippas
· Cboe Global Markets CEO Craig Donohue
· CME Group CEO Terry Duffy
· Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman
· Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation President and CEO Frank LaSalla
· International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) CEO Scott D. O
· London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) CEO David Schwimmer
· Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) CEO Jeff Sprecher
· Trading company DRW CEO Don Wilson
7. Academic and Compliance Representatives
Professor Harry Crane, Professor Carla Reyes
8. Others
· International Federation of Automobile (FIA) CEO Walt Lukken
The CFTC clearly stated that the core responsibility of the IAC is to provide professional advice on cutting-edge innovations in derivatives and commodity markets, focusing on how technologies like AI and blockchain reconstruct the market, helping regulators formulate "adaptive rules" to maintain the effectiveness of financial regulation.
Regulatory Logic: Top-Level Collaboration
The IAC is not a temporary organization but a long-term design by the CFTC aimed at the golden age of U.S. financial markets, providing professional advice for the technological innovation of the financial market.
According to Notice No. 9167-26 released by the CFTC on January 12 of this year, Michael S. Selig had already made clear the positioning of the IAC a month earlier:
· Background of Establishment: Replacing the former Technical Advisory Committee: This renaming is not just a semantic change. Under the leadership of Michael S. Selig, the CFTC has clearly realized that merely discussing blockchain technology and AI technology is outdated; what needs to be discussed now are the new financial business models spawned by technology.
· Core Work: The IAC focuses on the intersection of finance and technology (such as blockchain, digital assets, AI, etc.), balancing perspectives from various stakeholders including the financial industry, regulatory bodies, fintech providers, and academic institutions, helping the CFTC understand the impacts of technological innovation and guiding the application of new technologies in the financial market. It only provides consultation and suggestions, with no actual decision-making power.
· Operational Details: The CFTC provides support, with annual operating costs of about 170,000 USD, and members work without compensation; additionally, the CFTC will appoint a designated federal official to oversee meetings, compliance, training, and all other affairs. The committee will meet at least once a year, with subordinate subcommittees able to meet as needed.
This means that the previous situation of "remote dialogue" between the industry and regulators has been broken. Representatives from DeFi, CEX, traditional exchanges, clearing houses, and venture capital are all "sitting at the same table," allowing the CFTC to access frontline market consultations and advice directly, avoiding rule-making that is detached from reality.
What Does This Mean for Web3?
The establishment of the IAC list has at least the following clear impacts on the crypto industry:
1. The "Legitimization" of Prediction Markets
The most eye-catching members on the IAC list are Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour.
After a lengthy tug-of-war over whether "election predictions" fall under gambling regulations, the CFTC's action equates to officially recognizing prediction markets as having a financial status as "event contracts." More interestingly, the list also features presidents from DraftKings and FanDuel—this means that the boundaries between sports betting, financial derivatives, and on-chain prediction markets are becoming blurred.
This shift is particularly evident in the regulation of prediction markets. In February 2026, the CFTC announced the withdrawal of the proposed rules for "event contracts" released in 2024. At that time, CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig stated plainly: "The 2024 proposals related to event contracts reflect reckless regulation by the previous government, which sought to impose a comprehensive ban on political contracts prior to the 2024 presidential election." The CFTC will promote the formulation of new rules in line with congressional intent that supports responsible innovation in the derivatives market through a rational interpretation of the Commodity Exchange Act.
2. DeFi and Public Chains Obtain Official "Formal Seats"
Projects or related startups in DeFi such as Uniswap, Solana, Chainlink, and Ethereum promotion and product startup Etherealize CEO Vivek Raman being selected means not only recognition of the status of DeFi infrastructure but also signifies that the CFTC is recognizing the code as the market structure from a technical standpoint. The debate over whether "DeFi frontends require licensing" may shift towards a more pragmatic discussion on "how the protocol layer can comply."
3. Compliance Dividends for Leading Platforms Further Solidified
Institutions like Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini that have long been deeply involved in U.S. compliance entering the core advisory layer means that in future rule-making, the CFTC will be more aligned with the actual operating logic of these platforms, and the competitive advantages of compliant players will continue to amplify.
Such platforms, leveraging deep integration with regulators, will gain significant advantages in licensing acquisition and business innovation, further intensifying the Matthew effect in the industry, and forcing small and medium-sized platforms to speed up their compliance arrangements, promoting an overall upgrading of compliance in the crypto industry.
Conclusion
The core regulatory area of the CFTC encompasses the derivatives and commodity markets, with crypto derivatives, digital asset futures, blockchain clearing and settlement, and prediction markets becoming key development directions in this field.
The establishment of the IAC represents a regulatory paradigm upgrade promoted by the CFTC, shifting towards "proactive rule design in the early stages of innovation" and "adaptive regulation based on market realities."
The essence of this upgrade is a re-recognition of the symbiotic relationship between regulation and innovation: financial technology innovation is not the opposite of regulation but a core driving force for the modernization of financial markets, and the core role of regulation is not to hinder innovation but to delineate boundaries, mitigate risks, and allow innovation to realize value within a compliance framework.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
