Nomination of Mike Selig; a16z crypto State of Crypto 2025 Report; STREAMLINE Act; Market Structure Legislation Update

Mike Selig Nominated to CFTC Chair

On October 25, 2025, President Trump formally nominated Michael Selig, to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as Chairman. The Senate Agriculture Committee officially received the nomination on October 27, 2025, and is currently discussing the date for Selig’s confirmation hearing. 

Crypto policy voices welcomed the move, with White House Crypto and AI Czar, David Sacks, saying that Selig is “deeply knowledgeable about financial markets” and “passionate about modernizing our regulatory approach… to maintain America’s competitiveness in the digital-asset era.” Selig is considered a seasoned regulator and has extensive crypto experience. He currently serves as Chief Counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Crypto Task Force and as Senior Advisor to SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Before joining the SEC, Selig was a partner at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and was also a law clerk at the CFTC for then-CFTC Commissioner Christopher Giancarlo.

Notably, the CFTC has opened a Request for Comment on the Recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Market Structure, with submissions due in late November, which will shape how the Commission approaches digital assets and DeFi rules of the road. At the same time, relatively recent CFTC DeFi cases—including the 2024 Uniswap Labs settlement and enforcement action against three DeFi protocols, 2023 actions against Opyn, Deridex, and 0x—underscore why clearer, activity-based guidance is needed. 

If confirmed, Selig would be positioned to shift the CFTC’s work to support digital asset innovation without reverting to case-by-case enforcement as the default. 

a16z crypto State of Crypto 2025 Report Key Stats on DeFi Growth

On October 22, 2025, a16z crypto released its State of Crypto 2025 Report entitled “The Year Crypto Went Mainstream.” The report highlights the rapid growth of the global crypto industry:

• Monthly active crypto users have grown to 40-70 million people. 
• Stablecoins processed roughly $9 trillion in adjusted annual transactions and now hold over $150 billion in U.S. Treasuries. 
• Financial institutions expanded onchain initiatives, normalizing institutional engagement with DeFi infrastructure. 
• Major progress in regulatory clarity, with the passage of the GENIUS Act and the House approval of the CLARITY Act, signaling a bipartisan consensus that crypto is both here to stay and poised to thrive in the U.S.

Notably, the report observed a shift from centralized exchanges (CEXs) to decentralized exchanges (DEXs)—nearly one-fifth of all spot trading volume now occurs on DEXs. This highlights structural migration away from custodial platforms and that DeFi can compete with centralized venues on liquidity and performance. 

As demonstrated in the report, DeFi has become an integral part of global market infrastructure. It is even more critical that policymakers provide clear and durable protections for developers and DeFi innovation. DEF continues to advocate for such safeguards, such as through our 110+ partners coalition letter on developer protections urging the Senate to include developer protections in the digital asset market structure bill.

Senators Introduce the STREAMLINE Act to Modernize BSA Requirements

On October 20, 2025, Republican Senators Kennedy (R-LA), Scott (R-SC), and Lummis (R-WY) introduced the “Streamlining Transaction Reporting and Ensuring Money-Laundering Improvements for a New Era Act” (“STREAMLINE Act”) that seeks to modernize the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), a 1970 law intended to address illicit financial activities in financial institutions. The draft bill raises reporting thresholds for currency transaction reports (“CTRs”) and suspicious activity reports (“SARs”). The Digital Chamber released a letter supporting the bill and praising it for “tak[ing] an important step toward bringing the U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) framework into the 21st century.” 

DEF has previously examined the history of the BSA and why it is outdated and not compatible with noncustodial DeFi technology. For a deeper dive, read our papers on the BSA here and here. 

A Recap of Senate Market Structure Legislation Status

Since the Senate Banking Committee released its “skinny” discussion draft of the Senate digital asset market structure bill entitled “Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA) of 2025,” on July 22, 2025, there has been significant discussion around the proposed framework for digital assets. To keep you up to speed with the latest developments, Team DEF has assembled a short recap of where we are: 

• July 22, 2025—Senate Banking Committee released its “skinny” discussion draft of the Senate Market Structure Bill, the RFIA of 2025.
• August 27, 2025—With support from 110+ partners, DEF led and submitted a coalition letter urging robust developer protections in the market structure bill. 
• September 5, 2025—The Senate Banking Committee released an updated draft of RFIA, including explicit and robust protections for developers and DeFi technology in Title V. This legislative text represents one of the strongest legislative efforts to date to protect noncustodial software development in the United States. 
• September 9, 2025—Twelve Senate Democrats released a detailed framework for market structure legislation, signaling an intention to move towards a bipartisan approach.
• October 8, 2025—A Senate Democratic DeFi regulation document was leaked. The proposals within would have severely restricted software development in the onshore DeFi ecosystem.
• October 22, 2025—Senator Gillibrand convened a roundtable with Senate Democrats and a number of CEOs and industry leaders to discuss the path forward for market structure. That same day Senate Republicans held their own roundtable with industry participants. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, the White House, and industry representatives reaffirmed a shared commitment to advancing comprehensive digital asset market structure legislation.

The ongoing government shutdown that began on October 1, 2025, has delayed the Senate Banking Committee’s previously scheduled markup of the RFIA. The Senate Agriculture Committee is also expected to release their own draft of digital asset market structure legislation, which will have to be reconciled with Senate Banking’s draft. DEF will continue to monitor updates on market structure legislation.

DeFi Dictionary

This week, SOL staking just made it to the New York Stock Exchange. For those financial advisors or Wall Street folks who are seeing today’s news and wondering: what exactly is staking? Here comes DEF’s Word of the Week: Staking.

Notable and Quotable

“Seventeen years in, crypto is leaving its adolescence and entering adulthood.” – a16z, Crypto State of Crypto 2025 Report. 

---