Update (Sept. 25, 10:20 pm UTC): This piece has been revised to provide more details regarding Kristin Smith’s position at the Solana Policy Institute.
Summer Mersinger, an ex-commissioner at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), plans to resign from her position as chief executive officer of the Blockchain Association and depart the lobbying group by the close of the year, following a major defeat for one of the association’s core legislative goals in Congress.
On Friday, the Blockchain Association (BA) revealed that Mersinger will vacate her CEO post on Oct. 16, at which point former chief executive Kristin Smith will step back in as interim CEO, while continuing her duties as president of the Solana Policy Institute. Mersinger took the helm at the Blockchain Association in June 2025 following her departure from the CFTC three years prior to the completion of her second commissioner term.
“I came here from the CFTC because I believed this industry deserved clear rules of the road and a credible, unified voice making the case for them in Washington,” stated Mersinger regarding her exit from the BA.
The group highlighted Mersinger’s work toward moving the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, forward, along with her assistance in achieving “regulatory clarity at the [Securities and Exchange Commission] and CFTC.”
Significantly, the group omitted any mention of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act currently debated in the Senate, which the BA consistently urged politicians to back. The proposed legislation did not secure sufficient support from both Republicans and Democrats during a cloture vote earlier this month, leading numerous analysts to predict that the bill will remain stalled until 2027.
The Blockchain Association declined to immediately comment regarding Mersinger’s future agenda for 2027.
Related: CFTC issues warning over risky prediction market ‘mention’ contracts
Originally published at https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-commissioner-leaving-blockchain-association-ceo?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound.
