J. Christopher Giancarlo, former Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will join Paxos’ Board of Directors.
According to a press release from Paxos, the former CFTC chairman will join the board of directors of the stablecoin issuer. The company hired Giancarlo to work with other directors, including former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley.
“Chris brings unparalleled expertise and understanding of complex market dynamics to Paxos. (…) His insights will help us expand our position as a leader in regulated digital asset market structures and stablecoin innovation. It will be helpful.”
Charles Cascarilla, CEO and Co-Founder of Paxos
Giancarlo served as CFTC Chairman from March 2017 to April 2019, where he oversaw the launch of the first Bitcoin futures product. He later published a book on Bitcoin derivatives titled “CryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money.”
In January 2022, Giancarlo joined New York fintech firm Digital Asset to consult on asset tokenization, distributed ledger technology, and the potential impact of regulatory changes on the cryptocurrency space.
Previously, Giancarlo joined the board of directors of cryptocurrency lending service BlockFi and was also a strategic advisor to investment firm CoinFund.
Giancarlo’s appointment to the company’s board coincides with recent pressure from U.S. regulators. In February 2023, the U.S. SEC notified Paxos that it planned to sue Paxos for violating investor protection laws. According to the SEC, Binance USD Stablecoin (BUSD) is an unregistered security. As a result, the company had to stop producing BUSD.