Former CFTC Head Christopher Giancarlo Joins Polymarket's Advisory Board

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) head and crypto advocate Christopher Giancarlo has taken a seat as the chairman of crypto prediction platform Polymarket's advisory board.

Polymarket settled with the CFTC at the start of this year for "offering off-exchange event-based binary options contracts and failure to obtain designation as a designated contract market (DCM) or registration as a swap execution facility (SEF)." It paid a $1.4 million fine. 

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan indicated that Giancarlo may help the firm navigate US derivatives regulation. In a Twitter thread announcing the appointment, Coplan said Giancarlo's skillset is "exactly what's needed to pioneer compliant DeFi in the US."

"The key will be abstracting the best parts of DeFi and adapting them to fit within the existing regulatory matrix," Coplan tweeted. "This will require novel solutions and collaboration, and Chris is the perfect person to help us get there."