IBM and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation has entered the Washington-based blockchain trade group. Mark Wetjen of DTCC, formerly a CFTC Commissioner, is appointed to the Chamber’s Board of Advisors.

Today the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a trade association that promotes the interests of the digital asset industry, has announced “the addition of IMB to its Executive Committee membership.” The new partnership is expected to strengthen the link between the blockchain community and the government policy makers in the US.

“It is critical from a national competiveness point of view for US companies and government agencies to lead the world in understanding the potential of blockchain and putting it to use. Blockchain will greatly benefit from government participation and we are pleased to join the Chamber of Digital Commerce to support engagement with the policy making community,” says Jerry Cuomo, Vice President of Blockchain Technologies at IBM.

Another company to accede to the Executive Committee of the Chamber of Digital Commerce is Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the world's leading post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, processing nearly $1.5 quadrillion worth of securities transactions in 2015. Mark Wetjen, Head of Global Public Policy at DTCC, was yesterday appointed to the Chamber’s Board of Advisors. In the past, he served as Commissioner at the US Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to Wetjen,

“New technologies are creating tremendous opportunities to connect economies around the world, make markets safer and more efficient and deliver services to consumers in novel ways. In particular, distributed ledger technology offers the industry a unique opportunity to drive targeted improvements to the financial market infrastructures that underpin the global capital market.”

Mark Wetjen has a long-time interest in digital currencies. In 2014, he wrote an article on bitcoin in Wall Street Journal, suggesting it should be regulated as a commodity and stating it “could play a fascinating role in the derivatives markets as well as financial services.”

Alexey Tereshchenko