Today in crypto, a US lawmaker is introducing new legislation aiming to ban US President Donald Trump, his family members and elected government officials from trading crypto and stocks. Michael Selig confirmed his nomination to chair the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency investment funds regained momentum last week amid improving investor confidence.
US lawmaker seeks to stop Trump, family from crypto, stock trading
A US lawmaker is seeking to ban US President Donald Trump, his family, and members of Congress from trading crypto or stocks.
US Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat representative used an appearance on MSNBC to raise concerns around Trump’s apparent conflict of interest with crypto via his son’s crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), alleging the recent pardoning of Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was “blatant corruption.”
Khanna did not go into specific details of his legislative proposal, but did not mince his words, concluding by calling for a ban on “any elected official from having cryptocurrency and accepting foreign money.”
Michael Selig confirms CFTC nomination as agency faces leadership void
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official Michael Selig announced that President Donald Trump had nominated him to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), citing a focus on crypto policies. The move still requires Senate approval and comes as the agency operates with several open seats.
In Saturday X posts, Selig and White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks confirmed reports that Trump would nominate him to chair the CFTC, setting the groundwork for the departure of acting Chair Caroline Pham.
Selig, whose nomination did not appear in congressional records nor among official White House announcements at the time of publication, reiterated Trump’s goal of making the US a “crypto capital.”
The nomination came amid a US government shutdown entering its fifth week after Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Congress were unable to reach an agreement on a funding bill over concerns with healthcare cuts and subsidies.
Though the Senate is still able to pass legislation during a shutdown — including potentially a digital asset market structure bill – lawmakers’ priority will likely be a continuing resolution to fund the government.
Since the departure of CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson in September, the agency’s five-member leadership panel has been filled solely by Pham, who also said she intends to depart the regulator after her replacement is confirmed in the Senate. As of Monday, the Senate had not set a confirmation hearing for Selig.
From outflows to inflows: Bitcoin ETPs rally amid surprising economic update
Cryptocurrency investment products regained momentum last week as investor confidence improved following lower-than-expected US inflation data.
Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) saw $921 million of inflows last week, more than offsetting the $513 million in outflows from the week before, CoinShares reported Monday.
The main driver behind the bullish trend in the crypto fund market was renewed confidence in further US rate cuts, bolstered by lower-than-expected CPI data released on Friday, according to CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill.
The Consumer Price Index surged by 0.3% in September, putting the annual inflation rate at 3%, both lower than expected.
“The ongoing US government shutdown, and the resulting absence of key macroeconomic data, has left investors with little guidance on the direction of US monetary policy,” Butterfill wrote, adding that CPI data helped restore anticipation of the further rate cuts.
Bitcoin (BTC), which had been the main driver of outflows a week earlier, almost fully recovered those losses with $931 million in inflows last week.
Ether (ETH) saw outflows for the first time in five weeks, totaling $169m, with consistent daily outflows throughout the week. “Despite this, 2x leveraged ETPs remain popular,” CoinShares’ Butterfill noted.
