Joe Biden transition team adds former CFTC chair and crypto-focused academic Gary Gensler

Gary Gensler, who chaired the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Obama administration, will lead the financial policy transition team for projected U.S. president-elect Joe Biden.

CoinDesk confirmed the move today after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Biden was expected to bring on Gensler.

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As CFTC chair, Gensler oversaw substantial reforms to the financial derivatives market mandated under the 2010 Dodd-Frank act. But more relevant to cryptocurrency users is his most recent posting at MIT, where he is a professor of global economics at the business school and senior advisor to the MIT Media Lab’s influential Digital Currency Initiative.

While at MIT, Gensler has become known in crypto circles for his savviness about cryptocurrencies and blockchains and his opinions on the regulatory status of certain currencies, including XRP and Ether, which he once suggested both might be securities.

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Mike is a Senior Editor at The Block. Previously he was a senior reporter at MIT Technology Review, where he covered a range of topics from solar cells to smart contracts.