NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency operator Circle Internet Financial said on Thursday it has hired Heath Tarbert, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as the its chief legal officer and head of corporate affairs, effective July 1.
Circle’s hiring of Tarbert, who headed the CFTC from July 2019 until January 2021, comes as cryptocurrency firms face increasing U.S. regulatory scrutiny and uncertainty around whether the CFTC or the Securities and Exchange Commission will become the industry’s primary U.S. regulator.
Tarbert, a former corporate attorney and senior Treasury Department official, more recently worked for electronic trading firm Citadel Securities.
Boston-based Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USDC, in December decided to end a $9 billion deal to merge with blank-check firm Concord Acquisition Corp.
“As we continue building a bridge between traditional finance and Web3, Heath’s perspective, legal acumen and global regulatory experience will help us advance the utility value of USDC worldwide,” Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle, said in a statement.
(Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
