CFTC Commissioner to Join Crypto Industry Lobbying Group as CEO

(14:12 GMT) *CFTC Commissioner to Join Crypto Industry Lobbying Group as CEO (14:12 GMT) *Summer Mersinger Will Leave Agency at the End of May (14:12 GMT) *Mersinger to Join Industry Group Blockchain Association (14:19 GMT) CFTC Commissioner to Join Crypto Industry Lobbying Group as CEOBy Vicky Ge HuangSummer Mersinger, a Republican commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is leaving the agency at the end of May to lead the crypto-industry lobbying group Blockchain Association.Mersinger will assume her new role as the group's CEO on June 2, the Blockchain Association said Wednesday. She will succeed Kristin Smith, who is leaving to join the newly established Solana Policy Institute as president.Before her appointment at the CFTC, Mersinger held senior staff roles in the House and Senate. From 2004 to 2016, she was a top aide to current Senate Majority Leader John Thune.At the CFTC, Mersinger has expressed dissenting opinions regarding the agency's enforcement actions against decentralized finance projects, or blockchain-based crypto trading platforms automated by software.Sarah Milby, Blockchain Association's head of policy, will serve as interim CEO for the group after Smith's departure and before Mersinger's first day.