Latest news with #SummerMersinger
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Lobbyists Urge U.S. Senators to Dodge Distraction in Stablecoin Debate
The U.S. Senate's stablecoin bill is heading back into the final days of floor debate, and the crypto industry's Washington lobbyists are calling for senators to stay focused on the task even as other legislative efforts muscle into the debate. If the bill clears those potential obstacles and passes this week, it'll mark the first time a major piece of crypto legislation has cleared the Senate. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act is the Senate's much-revised effort to regulate the issuers of stablecoins — the steady tokens generally based on the value of a U.S. dollar, such as Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC. The bill already cleared the Senate Banking Committee and an earlier floor-vote test with major bipartisan support, though many Democratic critics tied the effort to concerns over President Donald Trump's personal crypto business interests. "As the bill continues through the amendment process, we respectfully urge lawmakers to remain committed to its central goal: providing a targeted and comprehensive approach to stablecoin oversight," some of the top Washington lobbying groups said in a joint statement on Monday, signed by the leaders of the Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, DeFi Education Fund and the Digital Chamber. This marks a first policy engagement from new Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger, who just left her commissioner post at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had said he'd throw open the final debate on the GENIUS Act open to amendments, and more than 50 of them were delivered. As often happens to legislation with momentum, lawmakers have latched onto the bill in hopes of letting their unrelated efforts ride its coattails to victory. In this case, the senators behind the Credit Card Competition Act that aims to force more competition between card issuers filed to add that as an amendment to the stablecoin legislation. Policy analysts such as Ian Katz at Capital Alpha Partners give the credit-card initiative very low odds of getting signed into law — 10-15%, Katz said in a Monday research note. His firm had a more optimistic outlook for the GENIUS Act, putting it at "a 60-65% chance of becoming law this year." While approval in this chamber of Congress represents the most difficult of all the hurdles faced by the legislation, it would still need approval in the House of Representatives, which may have its own ideas on how to approach in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
24-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Perpetual Crypto Futures Could Trade Soon in US: Mersinger
Perpetual crypto futures, an asset class already popular overseas, could soon trade in the US, outgoing Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Summer Mersinger said. Such futures contracts 'could come to market now,' Mersinger said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Thursday, speaking in New York at a conference hosted by Solana, a blockchain company. 'We're seeing some applications' at the CFTC and some of those products could start trading soon, she said.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CFTC Commissioner Mersinger to Be CEO at Blockchain Association
Summer Mersinger, one of the Republican commissioners at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will soon take over the Blockchain Association as its incoming chief executive, a top official at the association confirmed on Wednesday. The organization, one of the leading crypto lobbying voices in Washington, will be absent a leader when longtime CEO Kristin Smith steps down this week and officially becomes president at the Solana Research Policy Institute. That vacuum at one of the largest U.S. advocacy groups will be filled by Mersinger at the start of next month, according to Marta Belcher, the president and chair of the association's board, who confirmed the move on stage at Consensus 2025 in Toronto. Mersinger's departure will temporarily leave the CFTC with a single Republican, Acting Chairman Caroline Pham, against two Democrat commissioners, Kristin Johnson and Christy Goldsmith Romero. However, Romero has already announced her retirement from government service as soon as the Senate confirms President Donald Trump's pick as the new chairman, Brian Quintenz. The Senate hasn't hurried with its confirmation of Quintenz as it did with Paul Atkins, the new chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but his confirmation will swing the agency back to a 2-1 Republican majority, leaving two open positions — one for each party. The agency is poised to become one of the crypto industry's key regulators if Congress approves new legislation to regulate the sector. Lawmakers from both parties have favored a larger role for the CFTC in overseeing the spot market for the trading of the bulk of the digital asset volume. Mersinger had been a defender of the crypto industry during the administration of President Joe Biden, when Rostin Behnam was chairman at the CFTC. She'll now be representing it as the industry is pressing for two major pieces of legislation that will establish its regulatory footing in the U.S. The leadership change at the Blockchain Association comes at the same time as turnover among most of the other key crypto advocacy groups in the U.S., of which there are now many. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNA
14-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
CFTC commissioner to join Blockchain Association as CEO
The Blockchain Association said on Wednesday that current Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner Summer Mersinger will join the trade group as CEO in June, as the cryptocurrency sector ramps up its push to overhaul digital asset policy. Sarah Milby, the Blockchain Association's head of policy, will serve as interim CEO until Mersinger assumes the role on June 2. The group's current CEO Kristin Smith is stepping down Friday to join the Solana Policy Institute. The CFTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mersinger's office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Blockchain Association said in a release that Mersinger's last day at the CFTC would be May 30. Mersinger, a Republican appointed to be a commissioner in 2022 by former President Joe Biden, had been in the mix to lead the CFTC until President Donald Trump tapped former official and crypto executive Brian Quintenz as chairman instead. Trump on the campaign trail pledged to be a "crypto president" and courted cash from the industry by promising to promote the adoption of digital assets. In his first week in office, Trump ordered the creation of a cryptocurrency working group to propose digital asset regulations. In March, he signed an executive order to create a federal stockpile of bitcoin. The crypto industry is pushing for Congress to pass legislation to create new rules for cryptocurrencies. That effort faced a setback last week when a bill intended to provide a regulatory framework for stablecoins - a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar - failed to clear a hurdle in the U.S. Senate.
