The French government has bestowed the equivalent of a knighthood on former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chief Chris Giancarlo, widely known as “Crypto Dad.”
In a Tuesday tweet, Giancarlo announced that the National Order of Merit in France bestowed on him the Chevalier — or equivalent to a knighthood — at the French ambassador’s house in Washington D.C.
Chris Giancarlo bags Chevalier
The order announced Giancarlo’s appointment in May. The honor was given in part because of the former CFTC chair’s “understanding of financial markets and the potentials of crypto finance,” according to France’s ambassador to the US, Phillippe Etienne.
“[This award] recognizes the creation of well-regulated crypto trading markets and strengthening of overseas regulatory ties with the help of many fine public servants during my time of government service,” Giancarlo said at the time.
Post-CFTC work
Before stepping down as CFTC chair in April 2019, Giancarlo served in that position for five years. He was given the moniker “Crypto Dad” during his tenure with the government organization because he managed the introduction of regulated Bitcoin (BTC) futures and was thought to have had a “do no harm” approach to blockchain regulation.
After leaving the CFTC, Giancarlo joined the boards of directors for blockchain startup Digital Asset, blockchain investment business CoinFund, and briefly, crypto lending company BlockFi. He is currently employed with the legal organization Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a senior counsel.
Other people whose countries have previously knighted have entered the crypto world in various ways.
William Shatner, who tokenized a series of trading cards in 2020, was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2019. On June 13, Sir Richard Starkey, widely known as Beatles member Ringo Starr, debuted his line of nonfungible tokens.