Insider: SEC's cryptocurrency working group chief legal advisor Mike Selig remains the top candidate for CFTC chairman.

[Insider: SEC's Crypto Assets Working Group Chief Counsel Mike Selig remains the top candidate for CFTC Chair] According to Crypto In America, the White House is about to make a decision on the candidates to replace Brian Quintenz as Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Two sources close to the process have indicated that SEC's (SEC) Crypto Assets Working Group Chief Counsel Mike Selig remains the government's top candidate. It is reported that the White House has also begun reviewing potential nominees to rebuild the five-member commission, which is currently led by Acting Chair Caroline Pham. Last month, after Quintenz was dismissed, industry groups have been continuously pressuring the White House to nominate a candidate who is friendly towards Crypto Assets. Meanwhile, Congress is about to pass a market structure bill that expands the CFTC's rule-making authority over the Crypto Assets market. According to sources, the primary requirements for the new candidate include an understanding of SEC and CFTC policies and the ability to help the government achieve the goal of coordinating and unifying the regulation of the two agencies. Selig is also a senior advisor to Paul Atkins, the chairman of the SEC. His career began at the CFTC, where he served as the clerk to then-commissioner Chris Giancarlo, and he later practiced privately for ten years, working at Perkins Coie and Willkie Farr & Gallagher law firms, and was a member of the firm's digital asset team.