Former CFTC chair joins BlockFi board of directors

Former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Christopher Giancarlo has joined the board of directors of crypto-lending platform BlockFi. The Block reports.

The former head of the CFTC will assist the company’s management in addressing regulatory changes and the project’s further development.

“It is critical to think about how to adapt and integrate innovations in a way that best serves investors and the economy at large,” Giancarlo said.

He led the CFTC from 2017 to 2019. During that period the regulator approved Bitcoin futures trading. After his resignation, Giancarlo led the nonprofit Digital Dollar Project, promoting the idea of issuing a national digital currency.

The former official also invested in the crypto hedge fund BlockTower Capital.

BlockFi raised $18.3 million in August 2019 in its Series A funding round.

In early 2020, during a Series B, the startup raised another $30 million. In August, Morgan Creek Digital led another funding round for the crypto-lending platform for $50 million.

In March 2021, BlockFi completed a Series D round for $350 million at a $3 billion valuation.