The FTX US exchange has just hit a big blow. It has just attracted Mark Wetjen, a former commissioner of the Commidity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the American financial regulator of derivatives markets. In particular, he will be in charge of regulatory issues.
US exchange platforms seem to appreciate the old figures of local regulators . One thinks in particular of Binance.US, which had appointed a former senior official of the Treasury as CEO.
It is now the turn of FTX US, Sam Bankman-Fried’s American exchange platform, to recruit a former CFTC figure.
The person recruited is called Mark Wetjen, who served at the CFTC as commissioner between 2011 and 2016. He will have the heavy task of being responsible for the strategy around regulatory issues .
Upon Gary Gensler’s departure from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mark Wejten also served as the CFTC’s interim director for five months . Gary Gensler was indeed director of the CFTC before his departure for the SEC.
For Mark Wetjen and FTX US, we must now hope that the contractual relationship will be better than the previous ones involving a former regulator and a cryptocurrency exchange.
Indeed, three months after his appointment as head of Binance.US, Brian Brooks had finally left his post . Likewise, Brett Redfearn, named Coinbase’s vice president of capital markets, also left the ship shortly after taking office .
👉 To read – Former SEC executive suddenly quits his job at Coinbase
Is FTX US preparing for its entry into the derivatives market?
Along with the SEC, the CFTC is the other major financial regulator in the United States. She is in charge of derivatives markets and the arrival of Mark Wetjen therefore raises questions. Could this be the beginnings of an arrival of FTX US on this buoyant market?
Futures contracts are in particular part of the derivative markets . However, Bitcoin futures contracts (BTC) are very successful among institutions across the Atlantic.
Likewise, the recent authorization by the SEC of several Bitcoin ETFs has only reinforced this attraction for futures contracts . Indeed, these ETFs follow derivative contracts and not the price of BTC on an exchange platform.
Rumors are therefore rife and there is no doubt that FTX US could soon add the possibility of investing in derivatives markets . This would be the logical continuation of the acquisition of LedgerX, the first crypto derivatives platform regulated by the CFTC, last summer.
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An asset for FTX US against regulators
However, the arrival of Mark Wetjen does not seem to be linked only to the derivatives markets . Indeed, his position is strategic since it is a question of piloting the regulation of FTX US.
However, we know that regulatory issues have become central in the United States . In particular, stablecoins are in the eye of the storm for US regulators .
If the derivative markets seem to be spared for the moment, this is not the case with the exchange platforms . The SEC chairman recently declared that they could not survive without being regulated. The appointment of Mark Wetjen is therefore not due to chance.