Circle Hires Former CFTC Chair as Chief Legal Officer to Push for Regulatory Clarity

Circle, the US-based company behind the stablecoin USDC, has appointed Heath Tarbert, the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair, as its new Chief Legal Officer. Tarbert will officially join Circle in July, and his role will involve building a bridge between traditional finance (TradFi) and web3.

Pushing for Regulatory Clarity

Circle aims to push for more regulatory clarity in the US, and Tarbert’s regulatory experience will help forward the adoption of USDC across the globe. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire expressed his enthusiasm for the new hire, stating that Tarbert’s expertise and leadership will be an extraordinary step in Circle’s growth as a global company.

Tarbert’s experience in the TradFi market making giant, Citadel Securities, was also highlighted in the press release, alongside his previous roles in various branches of the US government, including the Treasury Department, Justice Department, Supreme Court, Senate Banking Committee, and the White House.

The Case for More and Better Regulation

The announcement from Circle that Tarbert will be joining the firm coincided with Jeremy Allaire’s appearance on the front page of Forbes Magazine, where he made the case for more and better regulation of the crypto sector. Allaire argued in the piece that a new and comprehensive bill on stablecoins will not be a threat to existing players, who will instead become part of the new digital economy.

Allaire stated that with a bill like this, they will end up doing more business with banks than they currently do. He added that the banks cannot get involved in this because they are not authorized, there is no clear path, and they cannot hold stablecoins on their balance sheets because of the current rules. Therefore, this will increase the bank adoption of USDC.

The appointment of Heath Tarbert as the Chief Legal Officer of Circle is a significant step towards pushing for regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency sector. Tarbert’s expertise and leadership will be instrumental in Circle’s growth as a global company, and his experience in various branches of the US government will be invaluable in building a bridge between traditional finance and web3. The case for more and better regulation in the crypto sector, as argued by Jeremy Allaire, will not be a threat to existing players, but rather, it will help them become part of the new digital economy.