Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. So joining us to discuss a state of crypto, especially under the Trump administration is CFTC Commissioner Summer Mercinger. She is leaving the CFTC at the end of the month and will become the next CEO of the Blockchain Association. I also want to bring in Bloomberg Crypto co host Tim Stenewick for this conversation. Summer, let me ask you, just right off the bat, what
are your hopes for the stable coin bill? What does it signify for the industry if and when it does pass the entire Senate.
It signifies that this asset class is clearly here to stay, that it's been embraced in the United States, and we really are going to make the United States the forefront of economic power that we could see from these tokens and this asset class.
Summer serious, why specifically you are leaving the CFTC. I mean, your term wasn't set to be over until twenty twenty eight. You could have stayed for that long, and you said it was in your statement last week that it was heartbreaking to actually decide to leave the CFTC. So why leave?
That's a great question, and I did really struggle with this decision. One thing I had to think about is we have a very strong incoming chairman who has a great voice for the crypto industry and will be a real advocate for the industry and the agency at large.
I really do feel like I also have a good voice that I can bring to this debate, that I can bring to this industry and help us get across the finish line and a number of priorities, one being courts the stable prints legislation, but also the market Structure bill. And really I think the best place for me to contribute to that is through this opportunity that I have
coming up with a blockchain Association. So while it was very hard to make the decision and to leave my post before I was done with my term, I really do think as far as being able to contribute to the process, I will have this great opportunity to do so from the association.
Do you think you would have stayed if you were picked by the President to be the acting Commissioner? Your name was certainly one on the list, Yes.
And certainly that would have played into it. I think timing wise, that would have played part of the role as well. But you know, I think the President and his team did a great job of picking very strong leaders for this agency and for the other financial regulators as well, and I fully support the decisions that they made, and I am hoping that I can continue to work closely with the current acting chair and the incoming chair and my new role.
So, bigger picture, what rolled you envision for the CFTC as a crypto reregulator now that you are moving on to the industry to lead the Blockchain Association.
CFTC is uniquely positioned to be the right regulator for the crypto spot market. We already have a lot of regulatory oversight of trading that happens in the futures markets on some of these assets. We are market regulators, so we are uniquely qualified to really watch over the market to make sure it's functioning, that it's liquid, that it's vibrant. And we have an existing enforcement authority over a lot of these areas already, so we are uniquely qualified. We're
also a global regulator. All of our markets are global. These markets are global as well, and so that it kind of puts us in this position of being ready for that level of jurisdiction.
I think a lot of people who are watching the industry closely are curious about sort of what's in the pipeline on a regulatory front, and perhaps whether or not you actually expect perpetual crypto futures to be approved in the US in the near future. Is that something you think could happen.
Yeah. Absolutely. In fact, I think those can come to market now, and we're seeing some applications, and I believe we'll have some of those products trading live very soon. It will be great to get that trading back on
shore in the United States. I think it's unfortunate that it has been driven off short for so long, and the fact that we can have that here in the US and under our regulatory framework is a really good thing for these markets and will be really beneficial to the industry broadly and to our economy here in the United States.
I think a lot of people are curious, as an outgoing regulator about political involvement at the CFTC and to what extent this organization is actually free from political influence. What would you say to somebody asking that.
We've been historically bipartisan. You know, part of that comes from the fact that our over our oversight committee at the House and Senate, or the House and Senet agriculture committees which tend to be or bipartisan than other committees, and the Congress, and you know, as just a case in point, I think probably some of my biggest compromise where I worked closely with probably with the most progressive member of our commission commission, Goldsmith Romero. We work together
on a number of issues. We voted together quite a bit, and it was kind of proof that we do work in a bipartisan manner where you know, even though we are from different parties, we come together to do what's fast for the markets.
Nevertheless, come June, the CFTC will just have two of five commissioners and that looks to a lot of people like a leadership gap. But we also see a lot of the independent agencies of which the CFTC is one kind of being stripped of resources of people as Doge and the White House overall try to fin the ranks of federal employees. What kind of balance of power is there in Washington if everything seems to run through the
White House. I guess it's another way of asking, could we see a market disruption, a market event, you know, undesirable events taking place in future's options. If there's less folks at the CFTC, yeah, I don't have that concern.
We have a very strong staff. Our agency has always done an amazing job of staying up on the markets and ensuring that they are free from manipulation and anything that would be a kind of non economical impact on
market movement. And we've done that through many volatile times with you know, sometimes two commissioners, sometimes a full slate of commissioners, but the agency is very flexible and is able to adapt quickly and just overall on the kind of power structure, I think, you know, the Trump administration has their their way of viewing this administration, and you know, I fully respect that, and I do think that the independent agency will continue to do what it was put
place to do and oversee the derivative markets and make sure that they continue to offer the utility that they are supposed to offer, which is price discovery and hedging.
Commissioner Mercinger. We've got a story out now speaking of the Trump administration that says that since the early days of the reelection campaign, the president has essentially doubled his net worth more than doubled it to five point four billion dollars, more than five hundred million of doubt that, according to our reporting, comes from sales of just one of his crypto ventures, not to mention the Meme coins,
the Trump digital trading cards. There are critics out there who say that he's too close and too involved with the crypto industry. They're worried about pay to play. What do you say.
I worry that this distracts from the arguments that we need to be focused on right now. It's time for the US to unlock this the economic power of the crypto markets in the United States. It's time to bring this trading activity on shore. In order to do that, we do need things like the stable point Life legislation that's moving through the Senate. We do need to have a market structure bill, and that needs to be our
focus right now. So I think some of this just becomes a distraction from what is really the most important, you know, important thing here, which is providing a regulatory framework so that we can have these markets on shore and in a space where US retail customers can access these markets in a safe space with the proper regulatory oversight.
Just to clarifyer, are you saying that the president's involvement in the industry is a distraction or the critics are a distraction.
I'm saying the critics are using it as a distraction away from what you really needs to get done, and I think that's unfortunate.
So is a meme coin dinner that the president is hosting later on tonight a distraction? Excuse me attending, you.
Know, I haven't paid too much attention to this headline, so I don't really know. I don't have a lot to comment on it. I think for me as as a regulator in my current role, you know, I'm more focused on where the broader industry is and what you
know they're focused on. They're on the hill, they're working on the stable claim legislation, they're meeting with staff, they're working on the framework for the market structure bill, and that, to me is really where my focus and energy has been throughout this debate.
Summermersing are the outgoing commissioner of the CFTC. Thank you so much, And of course, Bloomberg's Tim stun A, a co host of Bloomberg Crypto, really appreciate it,