Bart Chilton: Former CFTC Regulator, Crypto Holder and ICO Endorser

Last weekend, Bart Chilton, a former commissioner of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission and early advocate for cryptocurrency regulation, died at the age of 58.

Prior to working for the Russian state-owned television channel, Chilton had an eventful political career in the U.S. government, which lasted 25 years.

In 2007, Chilton was nominated to be a CFTC commissioner by President Bush, and his position was subsequently confirmed by the Senate.

Bloomberg describes Chilton as "a U.S. regulator who pushed for tighter regulation of swaps and derivatives." According to The Washington Post, he was "Perhaps best known for his mane of silver white hair and unconventional speeches, loaded with pop culture references and catchy phrases." For instance, he famously nicknamed high-frequency traders "Cheetahs" who race "In and out" of the market.

In November 2013, Chilton announced he was leaving the CFTC "In the not too distant future," without specifying the reason.

Chilton and crypto: From calling bitcoin a "Shadow currency" to holding and ICO endorsements.

Although Chilton has said that he's been calling for cryptocurrency regulation since 2012, he never addressed the topic during his congressional speeches while working for the CFTC, as per the agency's database.

In September 2017, Chilton highlighted bitcoin's volatility as a major issue, saying that he would have started a probe into potential market manipulation if he still worked at the CFTC at the time.

In January 2019, Forbes published Chilton's article titled "2019's Good, Bad and Ugly of Cryptos," which details a parallel between the crypto industry and the Clint Eastwood movie from 1960s.

CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, also known as "Crypto dad" for his "Do no harm" approach toward crypto, was among many of Chilton's colleagues who lamented his death.