In brief
- The CFTC’s Chicago enforcement team—long seen as the agency’s “top cop”—has been fully wiped out.
- The office, which once employed 20 enforcement attorneys, now has zero, according to a Barron’s report.
- The massive reduction comes as the CFTC seeks to significantly expand its purview to include crypto and prediction markets.
The CFTC office widely regarded as the regulator’s “top cop” has been reduced to non-existence—at the same time the Trump administration has sought to put the shrinking agency in charge of crypto and the exploding prediction market sector.
The CFTC’s flagship Chicago office—which handles the agency’s most complex enforcement actions, and once employed 20 enforcement attorneys—had been slashed down to just a single enforcement lawyer, according to a new Barron’s report citing sources familiar with the office’s moves.
On Monday, the final enforcement attorney remaining in the Chicago office resigned, a Barron’s reporter confirmed following the initial publication of the story.
That massive reduction—of the key office’s entire litigation team—comes as the CFTC has raced in the last year to absorb the crypto and prediction market industries into its jurisdiction.
The same agency leadership responsible for the CFTC’s significant staff reductions has, in the last year, championed the agency’s dominion over the vast majority of the crypto market, and also over the controversial and sprawling realm of sports-dominated prediction market platforms.
Caroline Pham, who led the CFTC in 2025 as acting chair, was chiefly responsible for reducing the agency’s total staff by over 21% last year. Pham now works for MoonPay, a crypto company.
Former CFTC enforcement lawyers let go by the agency said they felt the moves were targeted, given the Chicago office’s particular expertise and key role in securing multi-billion dollar settlements from crypto companies including FTX and Binance.
“If I was a different person I would launch a crypto scam right now, because there’s no cops on the beat,” one of the laid-off lawyers, a chief trial attorney who worked at the CFTC for 26 years, told Barron’s.
Experts recently told Decrypt the CFTC, further, is woefully unequipped to investigate potential insider trading on the thousands of prediction markets (most sports-related) it now wants to regulate.
“As with other agencies across the federal government, some CFTC employees have chosen to take advantage of early or deferred retirement opportunities over the past year,” a CFTC spokesperson told Decrypt. “Those voluntary separations account for the vast majority of changes in the CFTC’s headcount. Many of the CFTC staff are based out of the Washington D.C. headquarters, with a smaller contingent in regional field offices. Resources must be evaluated holistically, not office by office. Importantly, the Division of Enforcement remains active and fully capable of executing its mission.”
“Chairman Selig is evaluating agency resources in collaboration with Division and Office directors,” they added, “and will ensure the CFTC remains fully equipped to support the American derivatives markets and their customers.”
The reductions in the Chicago office’s legal staff, paired with the Trump CFTC’s new priorities, have markedly reduced the monetary relief secured by the agency via enforcement actions. In fiscal year 2024, the CFTC secured $17.1 billion in monetary relief on behalf of investors. That figure plummeted in 2025 by over 99.9%, to just $9.2 million.
During his Senate confirmation hearing in November, the CFTC’s new chair, Mike Selig, refused to commit to saying the agency needs additional resources to regulate crypto and prediction markets. Selig’s resistance was notable, given top Senate Democrats and Republicans voiced support for increased agency funding at the hearing.
“I don’t know why it’s hard to say we need more staff,” one senator, Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), told Selig at the time.
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to include comment from the CFTC.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
