Former US CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo Departs Willkie, Plans to Advise Cryptocurrency Firms

Chris Giancarlo, the former chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is set to become a full-time adviser to cryptocurrency firms. He was part of a law firm called Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and he decided to retire from his current role. Giancarlo's departure comes at a time when crypto policy is at the centre of debate in Washington. The Senate is back in session, and the CLARITY Act is getting a lot of attention.  At the same time, stablecoin policy and market structure issues are still being talked about in Congress, regulatory agencies, and trade groups.

Ex-Regulator to Focus on Crypto Advisory, Policy Work

Giancarlo now plans to shift his entire focus to advisory work, investing, writing, and public policy efforts that are linked to crypto and AI. He served as the CFTC chairman from 2017 to 2019, and during his time there, he oversaw the launch of Bitcoin futures that were federally regulated through the CME Group and Cboe Futures Exchange. He also helped establish an agency's innovation unit for fintech and emerging financial technology called LabCFTC. 

The former CFTC chairman's professional journey also includes digital asset policy and corporate advisory work, after which he became executive chairman of the Digital Dollar Project, a nonprofit organisation that supports research on a tokenised US dollar. Later on, he joined firms and industry groups in advisory and board roles, which include companies such as Paxos, Sygnum Bank, Nomura, and the Chamber of Digital Commerce. 

In Giancarlo's post announcing his retirement, he said, “From here on, I'll devote my time to advising founders & builders of FinTech & Digital Assets and their CEOs and boards, research & writing on public policy issues, and continuing work with non-profit programs.” 

Shedding more light onto his plans, he further added, “I'll also promote my upcoming book, “The New Adventures of CryptoDad: The Quest for Financial Freedom in the 21st Century,” (Wiley, October 2026), an eyewitness chronicle of the #crypto industry's evolution through recent political shifts and technological breakthroughs and my call for an "Internet of Liberty" that embeds democratic values and individual freedom into the new architecture of banking, finance and money itself.”

Giancarlo is not the only CFTC chair to have moved from law advisory to the crypto sector. Earlier in December 2025, former CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham also stepped down from the CFTC to become the chief legal officer at crypto firm MoonPay.