Bart Chilton, the former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Bitcoin advocate, has died. The TV channel RT America, for which Chilton hosted the show “Boom Bust”, announced the death late Saturday – citing an unspecified “sudden illness.” He was 58.

Today is a very sad day for our team, as we must share the news of the passing our friend Bart Chilton. As we remember him, we commit to doing our best to honor his legacy of excellence. https://t.co/76f6Oa5L0G — RT Boom Bust (@BoomBustRT) April 27, 2019

Prior to his TV career, Bart Chilton was Commissioner at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2007 to 2014. At the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, he headed the Energy and Environmental Advisory Committee and the Global Markets Advisory Committee. He has served on multiple local, federal and presidential campaigns, the Obama presidential transition team, and in the US House, Senate, and Executive branch.

CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo tweeted that Chilton’s death was “sad news for all of us”. Terry Duffy, chief executive officer of CME Group Inc., one of the major futures exchanges regulated by the CFTC, said the former commissioner was “an enthusiastic advocate for the futures industry where he made many significant contributions during his tenure. Beyond that, he was a friend and colleague who will be missed greatly”.

Bitcoin is not a scam or a fraud

Back in November 2017, Bart was applauded by the crypto community as he made the case that Bitcoin is not a “scam or a fraud” in rebuke to comments made by Jamie Dimon and President Putin.

Chilton has also made comments arguing that, while the U.S. should embrace the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, he believes proper regulations are needed for sustainable growth in the industry – especially when it comes to protecting investors.

2019’s Good, Bad And Ugly Of Cryptos https://t.co/YU59OqI5pR The beginning of the year is a — Bart Chilton (@BartChilton) January 30, 2019

In a closing comment during his most recent opinion piece (2019’s Good, Bad and Ugly of Cryptos), Chilton gave an honest assessment of how the transaction may move the existing to a new and better digital economy.

He said, “The crypto-anarchist will say the existing systems are on their way out. They will perish. My view, that’s nutty talk. I’m in the camp of working within existing systems to make meaningful progress. The old adage, if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem, comes to mind”.