Aptos Founder Teams Up with BlackRock & Goldman Sachs to Rewrite CFTC’s Crypto Rulebook
Wall Street meets Web3 in a power move that'll shape crypto's regulatory future.
When traditional finance heavyweights and blockchain pioneers collide, the rulebook gets rewritten—literally. The Aptos founder just joined forces with BlackRock and Goldman Sachs to advise the CFTC on crypto regulation. Talk about a regulatory moonshot.
Game recognizes game
This isn't your grandma's financial advisory committee. We're seeing crypto-native talent sitting at the same table as institutional dinosaurs—and they're all playing by D.C. rules now. The irony? These are the same firms that called Bitcoin a scam five years ago.
The fine print
No specifics yet on proposed regulations, but expect the usual dance: institutional players pushing for frameworks that favor their existing infrastructure, while crypto purists fight for decentralization. Place your bets on who wins this tug-of-war.
Closing thought: Nothing accelerates regulatory clarity like trillion-dollar asset managers wanting a piece of the action. Funny how that works.
Why Ching’s CFTC role could reshape crypto’s regulatory playbook
Avery Ching’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for crypto regulation. While the SEC keeps swinging its enforcement hammer, the CFTC has been playing a different game. The commodities regulator has steadily expanded its crypto oversight with a lighter touch, especially when it comes to assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH).
With Ching now advising its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee, the agency gains direct access to a technologist who has built blockchain infrastructure at scale.
Ching’s background sets him apart from traditional finance appointees. Before co-founding Aptos, he was a principal engineer at Meta’s Diem project (formerly Libra), where he grappled with the regulatory hurdles of launching a global stablecoin.
That experience gives him rare insight into both the technical and compliance challenges facing decentralized systems. On the CFTC subcommittee, Ching will work alongside figures like Nasdaq’s Tony Sio and Franklin Templeton’s Sandy Kaul, bridging the gap between crypto’s disruptors and Wall Street’s established players.
Aptos’ quiet regulatory wins
While Ching’s appointment is new, Aptos has been laying groundwork for regulatory relevance. The project was recently named the top blockchain candidate for Wyoming’s WYST, the first fiat-backed stablecoin issued by a U.S. state.
At the same time, Bitwise’s amended filing for an Aptos-linked ETF signals growing institutional interest, even as the SEC delays decisions on broader crypto ETFs. This is not to mention that the Layer 1 blockchain already hosts three USD-pegged stablecoins, a factor that likely caught regulators’ attention given ongoing debates about stablecoin oversight.
Ching’s first test may be the subcommittee’s work on stablecoin and CBDC frameworks, which it began standardizing in March 2024. With Wyoming’s WYST initiative and Aptos’ ETF prospects, his input could directly influence how regulators treat blockchain-native financial instruments.
