The US derivatives watchdog is bringing again a well-recognized face from Bitcoin’s first leap into regulated markets, as Amir Zaidi returns to the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee as chief of workers forward of what Washington calls a pivotal yr for crypto guidelines.
The CFTC mentioned on Dec. 31 that Chairman Michael S. Selig appointed Zaidi to the function, after Zaidi spent practically a decade on the company earlier than leaving for the non-public sector.
“Amir brings to this function deep expertise each on the Fee and within the monetary companies world,” Selig mentioned, linking Zaidi’s monitor document to the company’s push to form new guidelines for digital asset markets.
.@CFTC Chairman Selig Declares Amir Zaidi as Chief of Employees: https://t.co/Y5aoBVqVWo
— CFTC (@CFTC) December 31, 2025
From Market Oversight Chief To Bitcoin Futures Architect
Zaidi labored on the CFTC from 2010 to 2019, and he most not too long ago led the Division of Market Oversight, the place the company mentioned he oversaw the certification and deployment of the primary federally regulated crypto product, Bitcoin futures.
That second traces again to late 2017, when the CFTC mentioned CME and Cboe Futures Trade self-certified new Bitcoin futures contracts, opening a path for US-listed buying and selling days later.
After leaving authorities, Zaidi grew to become international head of compliance at broker-dealer TP ICAP, a task the agency introduced in 2019 after his tenure on the CFTC.
New Chief Of Employees Arrives As Coverage Path Shifts
“I’m excited to return to the CFTC and thank Chairman Selig for appointing me to this essential function,” Zaidi mentioned, including that he plans to assist perform the chairman’s professional innovation agenda as derivatives markets evolve.
Zaidi’s return lands days after Selig was sworn in because the sixteenth CFTC chairman, following a Trump nomination in October and Senate affirmation on Dec. 18.
Selig has framed the second as a shift from regulation by enforcement towards clearer guidelines, and his company has already moved deeper into crypto plumbing, together with steps which have put regulated US venues nearer to identify model crypto buying and selling.
For crypto markets, the staffing transfer is one other sign that the CFTC expects to sit down close to the centre of US market construction talks in 2026, with Selig pointing to digital asset laws transferring towards President Trump’s desk and a much bigger push to maintain crypto exercise onshore.
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