Blockchain Association named Summer Mersinger as its new chief executive on May 14, 20251. Mersinger held a seat on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, and her exit from that agency took effect May 30. CoinDesk reported on May 14 that the exit would leave the CFTC with just one Republican for a stretch2.
Four leadership moves at Blockchain Association on the record since 2025
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 1, 2025 | Smith left as CEO. Kristin Smith left as Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
| May 14, 2025 | Mersinger became CEO. Summer Mersinger was named Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
| Sept. 25, 2026 | Mersinger left as CEO. Summer Mersinger left as Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
| Sept. 25, 2026 | Smith became Interim CEO. Kristin Smith was named Interim Chief Executive Officer of Blockchain Association |
35 CEO appointments on the record in 2025, the most of any year
CEO appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2025: 35
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2025 | 35 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
Blockchain Association's announcement carried the board's verdict on the hire. “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Commissioner Mersinger as Blockchain Association's new CEO,” said Marta Belcher, president of the association's board. “This is a pivotal moment for crypto policy, and we are confident that she is the ideal leader to take Blockchain Association, and the industry, to new heights.”1
CoinDesk reporter Jesse Hamilton added the regulatory context. Belcher confirmed the hire on stage at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, where the move left the CFTC “with a single Republican, Acting Chairman Caroline Pham, against two Democrat commissioners,” Hamilton wrote2. The timing mattered. Mersinger had defended the crypto industry from inside the agency during the Biden administration, when Rostin Behnam chaired the commission, CoinDesk reported.
Blockchain Association before and after
Mersinger brought more than two decades of policy experience to the role, the association said. That record ran through both chambers of Congress and years advising Senate Majority Leader John Thune1. She took the seat Kristin Smith left behind. The association credited Smith with growing the group "from a staff of one" to more than 125 members. Sarah Milby, the association's head of policy, served as interim CEO from Smith's last day, May 16, until Mersinger started on June 2.
Why hire a sitting regulator rather than an industry veteran? Timing. CoinDesk framed the hire around pending law. Lawmakers from both parties favored a larger CFTC role over digital asset markets, and Mersinger would soon argue for that role from outside the agency2.
What came next
The chief executive seat turned over again. Mersinger would step down as chief executive on Oct. 16, 2026, staying on as an adviser through the end of the year, The Block reported on Sept. 25, 20263. Smith, who by then led the Solana Policy Institute as its president, agreed to return to the Blockchain Association as interim CEO starting Oct. 17, 2026. Mersinger credited her own tenure in a statement the outlet carried: “I'm grateful to our team, who poured everything into this work, and to our members, who showed up for it again and again,” she said. “Kristin built this Association from the ground up, and BA is in good hands.” Smith's own statement, in the same report, credited Mersinger's tenure with stablecoin legislation that passed into law. It also named House passage of the Clarity Act, which had since stalled in the Senate.
Sources
- Blockchain Association, "Blockchain Association Announces Commissioner Summer Mersinger as CEO to Lead Next Chapter of U.S. Crypto Policy," May 14, 2025, https://theblockchainassociation.org/posts/blockchain-association-announces-commissioner-summer-mersinger-as-ceo-to-lead-next-chapter-of-us-crypto-policy
- Jesse Hamilton, "CFTC Commissioner Mersinger to Be CEO at Blockchain Association," CoinDesk, May 14, 2025, https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/05/14/cftc-commissioner-mersinger-to-be-ceo-at-blockchain-association
- Sarah Wynn, "Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger to step down, Kristin Smith to return as interim CEO," The Block, Sept. 25, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi1AFBVV95cUxNdlFYM2hEV1ZyVm9vU3AyZ1d3d1ZueGF6T3phXzlRemdCRnJYMVdNM3dnWVVXeFFoLXdWbWU3Skt4MWJfQ2pvQy1mcHE2clFSM2FVaDBpaGYxY1kxQ0xYMXpEeUtNWXRjZm1uckZnblJESUtyUXloV1NFdmNEZ0lvMnZUMEVLWm5LYkx0dkZGTEZCdVVteUEyajhPVnNGSHlKS1doM1JOakFPbkJfSnR2dDRVeGI4bUZJNHFiTGxCclBfODJTRml0OWVwS2hDMmFyUXFlTg?oc=5