# J. Christopher Giancarlo **J. Christopher Giancarlo** chaired the [[CFTC]] from 2017 to 2019, after joining the commission in 2014 as an Obama appointee. Crypto calls him **"CryptoDad"** for his early, friendly approach to the industry: his CFTC oversaw the launch of the first federally regulated bitcoin futures and set up LabCFTC, the agency's innovation unit. ## The Polymarket chair In May 2022, four months after the CFTC fined [[Polymarket]] $1.4 million for offering unregistered event contracts, Polymarket named Giancarlo chair of its advisory board. Bloomberg's headline put the sequence plainly: the company named "CryptoDad" its chair "months after CFTC probe." He has kept the role through the FBI raid on [[Shayne Coplan]], the closing of the federal investigations, and Polymarket's return to the U.S. market. This is the [[Revolving Door]] at its most direct. A former head of the agency that regulates the company lends it credibility while the company is in trouble with that agency. Kalshi ran the same play from the other direction with [[Brian Quintenz]], a former CFTC commissioner who sat on Kalshi's board and was then nominated to run the CFTC. ## Other roles Per The Block (April 2026), Giancarlo retired as senior counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher and now advises fintech and digital-asset companies full time. He is executive chairman of the Digital Dollar Project, which he co-founded with former CFTC colleague Daniel Gorfine. He also sits on the board of stablecoin issuer Paxos, is an independent director of Nomura, and is a longtime adviser to the Digital Chamber. ## See also - [[Polymarket]] · [[CFTC]] · [[Brian Quintenz]] · [[Michael Selig]] - [[Prediction Markets]] · [[Revolving Door]] · [[Regulatory Capture]]