Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov traveled to the White House this weekend, where he praised the collaborative efforts between the CFTC and SEC to accelerate blockchain innovation and digital asset adoption in the U.S.
Nazarov also attended the inaugural meeting of the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee (IAC), where he spoke about regulatory clarity, tokenized equities, and how the U.S. can maintain its global status in the future of onchain financial markets. Executives from Nasdaq, Coinbase, and CME Group were also in attendance, along with CFTC Chairman Michael Selig and committee chair Walt Lukken of the Futures Industry Association.
Nazarov was among 35 industry leaders appointed to the IAC earlier this year. Formerly known as the Technology Advisory Committee, the IAC was created to advise the Commission on complex issues at the intersection of technology, law, policy, and finance.
A 2025 White House Digital Asset Report highlights Chainlink’s essential role in the digital asset economy. Having enabled over $33 trillion in transaction value, Chainlink powers the vast majority of DeFi and is utilized by major financial institutions such as Swift, Euroclear, UBS, Wellington Management, ANZ, and Fidelity International. In an increasingly global economy, Chainlink’s 24/5 U.S. Equities Streams unlock the $80 trillion U.S. stock market onchain.
Nazarov said continued cooperation on creating regulatory clarity for onchain finance is critical to reestablishing the U.S. as a hub of innovation.
“We at Chainlink power thousands of applications – we power the majority of DeFi, and I’ve seen hundreds of people decide not to build applications in the U.S.,” he explained.
“That’s a very serious cost. It’s a very serious issue and I’m very thrilled that we’re addressing it.”
Nazarov was at the White House when the GENIUS Act, which established the first federal guardrails for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, was signed into law last year. He believes tokenized U.S. equities are the next milestone in creating value onchain.
“If the global financial system moves onchain, then you would want the U.S. financial system to move onchain at the same speed or ideally faster if you want to retain that 60% approximate market share.”
He said the benefits of blockchains, tokenized assets, and smart contracts are increasingly valuable amid the proliferation of AI.
“Blockchains and smart contracts and oracles are going to be uniquely capable in withstanding those cyber risk threats,” he explained.
Collateral management is another key advantage.
“You go from 21/5 to 24/7 and you reduce risk massively, because there’s much more transparency about what’s going on with that collateral. It’s a no-brainer. Anyone can do the math there.”
In a statement to Chainlink Today, Nazarov said the meeting focused on important issues related to crypto markets as well as moving perps and prediction markets onshore within the U.S. regulatory perimeter, which benefits the U.S. market and consumers, as well as the systems and protocols.
“It was a very positive meeting overall, with a lot of thoughtful discussion and a lot of productive perspectives that I think are going to benefit DeFi, prediction markets, real-world asset tokenization, and really help take these industries to the next level in the U.S. market, which is, I think, exactly what we all want.”
Watch the full stream of the inaugural CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee meeting.