The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced yesterday, February 12, the 35 members of its Financial Innovation Advisory Committee. Among those named is Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Shane Coplan, Polymarket CEO. and Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple.
Officials from the agency said executives from traditional financial institutions such as Terry Duffy (CME Group), Adena Friedman (Nasdaq) and Jeff Sprecher (Intercontinental Exchange) will also appear. Additionally, the list includes representatives from venture capital firms such as Chris Dixon (a16z cryptocurrency) and academics such as Professor Harry Crane and Professor Carla Reyes.
This committee was formed in January 2026, replacing the previous Technical Advisory Committee. Guiding the CFTC on the impact of emerging technologies such as crypto assets Michael Selig, the agency’s president, talked about artificial intelligence and the derivatives market in a statement.
Selig noted that the CFTC strives to ensure that its decisions reflect market realities, but the agency did not provide details on specific timelines or mechanisms for implementing its recommendations. One of the issues the commission will address is the regulation of prediction markets.
The inclusion of Coplan (Polymarket) is notable for the fact that this platform faced CFTC enforcement action in 2022 for operating without registration. According to industry reports, it has since recorded trading volume of over $1 billion by 2025. Although Selig has publicly expressed the need for clear rules regarding these contracts, no specific changes have been announced.
The Blockchain Association celebrated on social networks the inclusion of 13 members. However, some of the reactions regarding X criticized the composition of the group. User boomer_btc described this as “terrible” and asked President Trump to choose another member.
Other accounts such as Crypto_Mags Absence of company representatives solely focused on Bitcoin (pure mining or custody).
The appointments come amid efforts by the U.S. government under the Trump administration to promote favorable regulation of digital assets, including a joint initiative between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of these efforts, the draft has been restarted. “Crypto Project” in January 2026, as reported by CriptoNoticias at the time.
According to remarks from Selig and SEC Chairman Paul Atkins at a joint event, the Trump administration is working toward its stated goal of positioning the United States as a global center of crypto asset innovation and laying the groundwork for market structure legislation expected from Congress.
The CFTC regulates commodity derivatives, including certain crypto asset futures, at a time when the market capitalization of digital assets has grown from $1 trillion in 2023 to approximately $3 trillion in 2025 (according to data from CoinMarketCap).