Crypto regulatory clarity in focus: CFTC names first members of Innovation Task Force

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has named the founding members of its new Innovation Task Force, a group assembled to help the agency develop regulatory frameworks across digital assets, artificial intelligence (AI) and prediction markets.

The task force was launched on March 24 by CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, who appointed Michael Passalacqua, his senior advisor at the agency, to lead it. As per the official press release, the task force is composed of staff from various divisions and offices throughout the Commission, as well as individuals with extensive private sector experience working on these issues.

On Friday, the CFTC announced that Passalacqua will be joined by five members: Hank Balaban, a former Latham & Watkins crypto lawyer; Sam Canavos, an ex-Patomak crypto and prediction markets advisor; Mark Fajfar, a CFTC legal veteran; Eugene Gonzalez IV, a former Sidley blockchain lawyer; and Dina Moussa, a special counsel in the CFTC’s Market Participants Division.

According to the agency, the task force’s responsibilities will revolve around three key areas, which includes digital assets and blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and event-based contracts such as prediction markets. The inclusion of prediction markets is notable given the CFTC’s ongoing efforts to assert jurisdiction over event contracts amid legal disputes with state regulators and platform operators.

“The Innovation Task Force brings together a leading team that exhibits deep expertise and an enthusiastic commitment to deliver clear rules of the road for American innovators,” Selig said.

Meanwhile on Friday, Selig also announced the CFTC’s innovation tracker, which highlights work done under his leadership to advance regulatory clarity, market integrity and responsible technological progress.

The latest development comes against the backdrop of uncertainty prevailing over when the crypto market structure bill, known as CLARITY Act will become a law. CLARITY Act, if passed would establish clear divisions of authority between SEC and CFTC, defining which digital assets constitute securities subject to SEC oversight versus commodities falling under CFTC jurisdiction.