Caroline D. Pham will join MoonPay as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer following the conclusion of her service as Acting Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
According to an update from MoonPay, Pham will be responsible for overseeing all global legal and administrative functions and “lead the company’s policy and regulatory strategy in Washington, D.C.”
Pham is described as being an “internationally recognized authority on financial market structure, derivatives, and emerging technology.”
She was selected as Acting Chairman of the CFTC back in January of this year, after being sworn in as a Commissioner in 2022. Mike Selig is expected to be approved by the Senate this week to become the CFTC’s Chair.
During her tenure as Acting Chairman, she oversaw a pivotal year of market modernization, significant regulatory innovation, and new digital asset policy.
In her first 100 days as Acting Chairman, Pham launched a modernization agenda including “perpetual-style futures, 24/7 and extended-hours trading, prediction markets, and the CFTC’s 12-month Crypto Sprint.”
She also issued guidance on tokenized collateral, “helping lay the groundwork for safer and more efficient clearing and settlement in digital asset markets.”
On December 4, Pham announced that “listed spot crypto products will trade for the first time in U.S. federally regulated markets through CFTC-registered futures exchanges.”
As covered last month, MoonPay, the global enabler of crypto payments, has recently announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has authorized the MoonPay Trust Company, LLC, a New York Limited Purpose Trust Company (LPTC), to begin offering its services to customers.
The charter authorizes MoonPay to offer digital asset custody and over-the-counter (OTC) trading services under what is described as being “one of the most respected regulatory frameworks in the world.”
This milestone marks another step in MoonPay’s mission to deliver a compliant and scalable financial infrastructure “for institutional and enterprise partners.”
Ivan Soto-Wright, co-founder and CEO of MoonPay, has said that receiving our New York Trust Charter reflects their “commitment to meeting the highest standards of compliance, security, and governance.”
It enables them to deepen relationships with FIs, expand their “regulated service offerings, and continue bridging traditional and digital finance in a trusted way.”