stepped down<\/a> as senior counsel and digital\u2011assets lead at New York law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher to focus on cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and public\u2011policy work, he confirmed on LinkedIn and in remarks reported by Crypto in America and Phemex. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Giancarlo, who joined Willkie in 2020 and helped build its \u201cDigital Works\u201d crypto practice, said he is pivoting toward \u201cstrategic advisory services to founders and boards in the fintech and digital asset sectors,\u201d as well as nonprofit projects such as the Digital Dollar Project.creators.spotify+3<\/p>\n
In an April post, Giancarlo told followers \u201cafter six rewarding years helping Willkie build one of the world\u2019s leading digital asset legal practices, it is time for my next chapter,\u201d adding that he will focus on \u201cfintech, #digitalassets, #crypto and AI \u2014 and on making sure freedom and human agency are baked into the new architecture of banking, finance and money itself.\u201d The former regulator, nicknamed \u201cCrypto Dad\u201d for his industry\u2011friendly stance at the CFTC, also teased an upcoming book titled \u201cCryptoDad\u2019s New Adventures: The Path to Financial Freedom in the 21st Century,\u201d due for publication in October and billed as a narrative of the crypto industry from the 2024 election into President Donald Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n
From CFTC \u2018Do No Harm\u2019 to full\u2011time crypto advocate<\/h1>\n
Giancarlo chaired the CFTC from 2017 to 2019, overseeing the launch of the first regulated bitcoin futures and arguing that U.S. regulators should adopt a \u201cdo no harm\u201d approach to blockchain innovation, a phrase he repeated in speeches and later in his first book \u201cCryptoDad: The Fight for the Future of Money.\u201d At Willkie, he co\u2011chaired the firm\u2019s Digital Works practice out of New York, advising banks, exchanges and fintech firms on crypto regulation and co\u2011authoring memos on topics ranging from stablecoin rules to the emerging U.S. crypto regulatory framework.<\/p>\n
According to the ABA Banking Journal and other legal trade publications, Giancarlo has also become one of the most visible public advocates for a U.S. central bank digital currency through his work at the Digital Dollar Project, arguing that a well\u2011designed digital dollar could \u201cpromote U.S. values of privacy, free enterprise and the rule of law\u201d in a world where China and others are racing ahead with state\u2011backed e\u2011money. Finews Asia previously reported that Trump allies had floated Giancarlo as a potential \u201ccrypto czar,\u201d noting his push for clear stablecoin rules, safe harbors for token projects and a more unified federal approach to digital\u2011asset oversight.<\/p>\n
His latest career move comes as Washington debates the CLARITY Act, GENIUS stablecoin legislation and bank\u2011backed tokenization pilots, with regulators from the Federal Reserve to the SEC and CFTC defining how dollar\u2011pegged tokens, DeFi and tokenized treasuries fit inside the existing system. By stepping away from big law to concentrate on investing, policy research and a new book aimed at retail readers, Giancarlo is betting there is room \u2014 and demand \u2014 for a former top derivatives regulator to help architect that future from the outside, as both adviser and storyteller.<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former CFTC chair J. Christopher \u201cCryptoDad\u201d Giancarlo has quit his senior role at Willkie to focus full\u2011time on crypto, AI and policy work, including a new book on digital money…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25769"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25770,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25769\/revisions\/25770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}