David Sacks, the White House adviser on AI and cryptocurrency, said newly aligned leadership at the CFTC and SEC is a “dream team” that he believes can deliver clearer crypto regulation for markets and firms. His comments land as Michael Selig is confirmed as CFTC chair and the administration signals a push toward market-structure legislation ahead of a Senate markup scheduled for January 2026. For the crypto community, however, any new regulator is viewed with skepticism, given that excessive regulation hinders not only the development of new technologies but also people’s financial freedom.

A coordinated posture between the CFTC and SEC is being framed as the policy unlock

Sacks emphasized what he described as complementary priorities between CFTC Chair Michael Selig and SEC Chair Paul Atkins. The core message is a pivot from episodic enforcement toward a more predictable, rule-based regulatory operating model. In that framing, the CFTC becomes the focal point for digital-commodity oversight while the SEC is positioned to clarify where securities jurisdiction starts and ends.

Extraordinarily excited to have the leadership of @MichaelSelig as Chair of CFTC at this critical juncture for digital assets. Along with SEC Chair @SECPaulSAtkins, President Trump has created a dream team to define clear regulatory guidelines for the 21st century. https://t.co/HqeFnFSJcH

— David Sacks (@davidsacks47) December 22, 2025

The “dream team” label is doing narrative work beyond personnel. It signals an administration preference for inter-agency harmonization and statutory rulemaking as the mechanism to reduce systemic and operational risk. In practical terms, coordinated leadership is being presented as the precondition for modernizing oversight rather than letting regulatory outcomes be determined primarily through enforcement actions. Of course, this must always be viewed critically, since, as we have mentioned, any attempt at regulation tends to be highly counterproductive for an industry that needs as much freedom as possible to innovate.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), described here as bipartisan, sits at the center of that agenda and is slated for a Senate markup in January 2026. The bill’s stated purpose is to define jurisdictional boundaries by distinguishing digital asset securities from digital commodities. As summarized in your text, the framework would assign primary oversight of digital commodities and their intermediaries to the CFTC while preserving SEC authority over digital securities, with definitions designed to reduce ambiguity for exchanges, custodians, and market infrastructure providers.

If statutory allocation tightens, it will cascade directly into operating requirements. A clearer framework would likely translate into more formalized reporting, delineated custody responsibilities, and stronger governance expectations—higher compliance load in exchange for legal certainty. For market operators and custodians, that means building controls that map cleanly to whichever regime applies to each product line. For institutional treasuries, the near-term execution requirement is updating internal controls and AML/KYC procedures so product classification and supervisory expectations remain aligned.