Digital Asset adds former CFTC chairman to board

New York-based Digital Asset has added the former chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), J. Christopher Giancarlo, to its board of directors.

In a Jan. 25 press release, the enterprise blockchain firm said Giancarlo will advise its leadership on strategic issues like asset tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT). Digital Asset has raised more than $300 million after completing a $120 million Series D round last April. Its core product is an open-source smart contract language called DAML.

“We are on the precipice of a digital economic transformation that will necessitate safe and secure ways for businesses to interconnect and share assets,” Giancarlo said in a press statement. “Digital Asset is building the future of business. I believe in the power of its mission and its technology to address these challenges. I couldn’t be happier to join the company’s board during this exciting time.”

Giancarlo served as the CFTC chair between 2014 and 2019. He is the co-founder of the CBDC-focused nonprofit the Digital Dollar Project, and also serves on several boards for companies including crypto neobank BlockFi and crypto investment firm CoinFund.