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With the chairmanship still an open question for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — likely to be a leading U.S. watchdog for crypto — its interim leader, Caroline Pham, is getting started on recommendations from the recent crypto report of the President’s Working Group.

The CFTC, which regulates U.S. derivatives trading and would assume oversight of the bulk of U.S. crypto trading under Congress’ market structure legislation, was at the center of key recommendations in the Trump administration report. So Pham, who President Donald Trump named acting chairman earlier this year, directed the agency to start taking industry input on meeting what’s become “a top priority” of the White House.

“I am beginning stakeholder engagement on all other report recommendations for the CFTC with the full support of the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets to operationalize President Trump’s promise to win on crypto,” Pham said in a statement. The agency is formally requesting public comments on fulfilling the report’s recommendations, opening a two-month window for input.

The CFTC is facing potential leadership drama, with Pham having said she’s on her way out and the confirmation process to make former Commissioner Brian Quintenz the chairman deliberately delayed by the White House. Quintenz drew open criticism from Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini, who is among Trump’s inner circle of favored crypto executives, but the bulk of the industry’s lobbyists are asking the president to press for a quick approval of his nomination. For reasons it never detailed, the White House delayed what would have been a final committee vote to send Quintenz’s confirmation to the Senate floor, it’s reportedly still backing him.

After that stitch in his confirmation, the Senate went on its August break, further forestalling the resolution of the CFTC chairmanship, with Pham poised to leave and the only other sitting commissioner — Democrat Kristin Johnson — also planning to go. Even if Quintenz is quickly confirmed after the Senate’s summer recess, he may take over an otherwise empty five-member commission.

Meanwhile, Pham said the CFTC’s renewed crypto effort is meant to operate alongside “Project Crypto” recently announced by Paul Atkins, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is a followup to the “crypto sprint” that Pham most recently promised on Aug. 1.

Read More: U.S. CFTC Considers Allowing Spot Crypto Trading on Registered Futures Exchanges

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A 27-year old Tel Aviv resident was recently arrested by police for allegedly spying on Israeli public officials for Iran. He was reportedly paid thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency for his efforts.

According to a recent news reports by i24 and Arutz Sheva, Israeli authorities claimed that the suspect, a man named Or Beilin, was paid thousands of dollars in crypto to conduct espionage on Israeli public officials and political activities.

Following his handler’s instructions, the Israeli man was assigned to spy on public officials by taking photographs of their homes in secret, documenting government military installations and report on political spray-painted graffiti.

The 27-year-old was arrested on June 24 by the Israeli police and the Shin Bet security service. The police raided his home and seized the culprit’s computer and other digital equipment used to receive crypto payments and communicate with Iranian contacts.

He has been temporarily detained under suspicion as authorities continue to carry out more investigations into the matter.

According to the report, the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court has extended his detention until June 26 as the investigation continues.

In an announcement, authorities have warned civilians about the underlying threat of Iranian intelligence services and affiliated terrorist organizations to recruit Israeli citizens to carry out espionage and other hostile activities.

According to the police, people are often recruited through social media platforms. Handlers often lure them in with the promise of money, crypto or any other means of rewarding them for espionage. The police urged residents to report any suspicious recruitment from foreign actors.

Most recently, the police have arrested two other Israeli citizens were also arrested for similar espionage activities. One of them is 28-year-old Dmitri Cohen, who is accused of gathering intelligence on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son’s fiancée.

Cohen was reportedly promised a batch of cryptocurrency worth $500 for each completed task, accumulating thousands of dollars.

Iran retaliates against the U.S. and Israel

Recently, Iran retaliated against the U.S. after it launched a major bomb in Iran targeting three nuclear sites. On June 24, Iran fired missiles at a a U.S. base in Qatar. However, the U.S. were able to intercept the missiles and successfully prevented casualties in the attack.

The crypto market reacted positively to news of the interception, with Bitcoin briefly rebounding over the $103,000 level after previously dipping below the $100k threshold.

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While CFTC Awaits New Chairman, Acting Chief Pham Gets Rolling on Crypto

Israeli man arrested for acting as an Iranian spy in exchange for cryptocurrency

Iran retaliates against the U.S. and Israel