Now that financial regulators have started to step up their game in conducting oversight on the bitcoin industry, cryptocurrency companies have been adding former heads of financial regulation institutions to their advisory board. BitFury recently announced that the former chair of the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC), which is responsible for financial oversight in the US, will be joining their advisory board.
Ex-CFTC head Dr. James Newsome will be joined by Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy (ILD), in the advisory board. Newsome previously served as the CEO of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), which means that he does have a lot of regulation experience under his belt. Meanwhile, ILD has been named by The Economist as one of the world’s two most important think tanks.
State of Bitcoin Regulation
“The forward-thinking approach by BitFury founders and management team regarding education, regulation and support for the entire blockchain community are perfectly aligned with my views,” remarked Newsome on his appointment for BitFury’s advisory board.
Newsome currently works as a founding partner of Delta Strategy Group, which is full-service government affairs firm based in Washington, DC. BitFury has recently opened a new office in Washington, DC which puts it closer to bitcoin lobbyists and potential policy changers.
Apart from these additions to their advisory board, BitFury has also established a technical advisory board that includes bitcoin leaders Jeff Garzik, original bitcoin core developer and CEO of Dunvegan Space Systems, and Paul Brody, former IBM vice president and Internet of Things (IoT) expert.
“It’s about securing a world of billions of smart devices. BitFury has a unique understanding of the scale and scope of the opportunity combined with their deep expertise in hardware and software,” remarked Brody, who is also Americas Strategy Leader for the Technology Sector at Ernst & Young.