Bitcoin Derivatives Company LedgerX Appoints Ex-CFTC Commissioner Wetjen to Board

The addition of Jill Sommers followed former CFTC commissioner Mark Wetjen becoming FTX US' head of policy and regulatory strategy in November 2021. Jill Sommers, who served as a commissioner at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has joined the board of directors for FTX US Derivatives.In a Thursday announcement, crypto exchange FTX US’ derivatives arm said Sommers had become its latest board member in a move seeming to increase the company’s regulatory efforts. Sommers served as a CFTC commissioner from 2007 to 2013 under former Presidents Barack Obama and George W.....

A commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Mark Wetjen, has spoken out in favour of flexible bitcoin regulation in the derivatives space and beyond. His statements came in the aftermath of a CFTC webcast, organised last week to discuss a number of questions related to digital currencies. On the day, more than 5,000 people across the world tuned in to watch the event, which was by far the largest online audience attracted by a CTFC meeting to date. Notably, more of the viewers were from Guangzhou, China, than Washington, DC, according to the commission. Wetjen has....

A commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has asserted the agency has the authority to take enforcement actions against price manipulation in bitcoin markets. Commissioner Mark Wetjen made the remarks at a bitcoin conference held at Bloomberg in New York on Monday. When asked if the CFTC has the authority to become intervene in such an event, he said: "It has not been tested, but I do believe we have the authority because bitcoin, by I think a very rational reading of our statute, classifies as a commodity and the definition of a commodity under the Commodity....

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was one of the more vocal US government entities on the subject of bitcoin in 2014, holding a hearing to discuss its role in options and futures, claiming regulatory oversight over the derivatives market and speculating on how it might intervene in the digital currency ecosystem. Perhaps most notably, however, CFTC CommissionerMark Wetjen penned an opinion piece heralding the technology's potential to transform the industries his agency oversees. But while the CFTC and Wetjen in particular have been open with their views on bitcoin, the....

LedgerX has received temporary approval from the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission to act as a swap execution facility. The bitcoin options startup applied for licensure last year and has received backing from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Google Ventures. LedgerX CEO Paul Chou said that despite the temporary approval, the exchange isn't set to launch until further licensure is acquired. He said of the temporary approval: "This is a first step, and is positive progress, but it is just one milestone toward our ultimate goal. Our mission is still to obtain a derivatives clearing....