CFTC's New Chairman: Who Is Heath Tarbert, What He Thinks of Crypto?

July 15 will mark the first day in the office for the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission's new chairman, Heath Tarbert.

The news of President Donald Trump nominating Tarbert, a senior official in the Treasury Department, to serve as the new head of the CFTC emerged in December 2018.

A native of Baltimore, MD, Heath Tarbert received his bachelor's degree in accounting and international business from Mount St. Mary, a Catholic liberal arts university located in his home state.

Upon concluding his clerkship with Justice Thomas, Heath Tarbert went on to serve as Associate Counsel to the President of the United States in the last months of the George W. Bush administration before leaving for the private sector early into Barack Obama's first term, with a short stop as Special Counsel to the Senate Banking Committee.

In April 2017, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Tarbert to fill the position of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Markets and Development.

Throughout his term with the Treasury, Tarbert represented the U.S. in several major international organizations in the area of financial markets regulation, such as the Financial Stability Board.

Domestically, following his nomination as the CFTC chairman, Tarbert managed to muster support from across the industry that is perhaps the most dependent on the health of derivatives markets: the agricultural sector.

Given his enormous experience with international financial regulation, there is no way Tarbert would not realize the importance of digital technologies to derivatives markets.

In June, commenting on the new U.S-United Kingdom Financial Innovation Partnership, Tarbert observed that "Technology is the future of financial services and innovation drives growth."

Although the spot markets underlying these instruments are outside of the commission's purview, the CFTC has the authority to intervene if it believes fraud or manipulation are involved, which renders the scope very broad. The hope is that, as he takes the reins of the regulatory agency that is immensely important for the blockchain sector, Heath Tarbert would act so as to earn the honorable title of "Crypto Dad" as well, despite what President Trump may have to say.