White House Pulls Nominee to Lead CFTC After Crypto Investors Voiced Concerns

According to Politico, the move came after prominent crypto industry figures raised concerns over Quintenz’s commitment to President Trump’s goal of making the U.S. into a global leader in crypto. Leading the charge against his nomination were Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the Facebook-famous billionaire twins who now run the crypto company, Gemini.

In a phone call with Trump in July, the brothers warned that Quintenz was insufficiently aligned with the president’s agenda and urged him to drop the nomination.

A White House official confirmed the withdrawal of the nomination to Politico ahead of an expected public announcement.  “Brian Quintenz remains a trusted ally and the Trump administration looks forward to working with him in other capacities,” the official said. “President Trump has made it a priority to make America the crypto capital of the world, and in doing so has called for the revitalization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to play a larger role in securing this promise.”

The incident is an illustration of both how influential crypto interests now are in Washington and the new prominence of the CFTC. Long considered something of a backwater agency that oversaw trading in pork belly and soybean futures and obscure derivatives, the regulator has gained new relevance with Washington’s embrace of crypto.

The Clarity Act passed by the House earlier this year would invest the CFTC with authority to oversee trading in “digital commodities,” which the law defines as a digital asset “intrinsically linked to a blockchain system,” the value of which is “directly related to the functionality or operation of the blockchain system or to the activities or services for which the blockchain is created or utilized.” That would cover most non-investment contract crypto tokens that trade on blockchain-based exchanges.

The act also grants the CFTC with exclusive jurisdiction over anti-fraud or anti-manipulation enforcement in digital commodities and requires intermediaries such as crypto exchanges to register with the agency.

Related: CFTC Launches Plan to Enable Use of Tokenized Collateral in Derivatives Markets

The CFTC itself has also taken steps to position the agency at the center of emerging crypto financial markets. In August, it announced it would allow spot trading of crypto-asset contracts that are listed on a futures exchange regulated by the agency.

“This is a significant development, not just for the U.S. but for global markets,” Saad Ahmed, head of Asia Pacific at Gemini said at the time. “It brings crypto one step closer to the structure and standards of traditional markets – an important shift that could drive broader participation from institutions and more sophisticated market participants globally.”

Friction between Quintenz and the Winklevoss brothers first flared in late July, when Quintenz posted screenshots on X of what he said were messages from late July between himself and Tyler Winklevoss related to a recent $5 million settlement between the CFTC and Gemini. Just days after that exchange, the Winklevoss twins reached out to Trump.

A one-time CFTC commissioner who later joined Andreessen Horowitz, Quintenz had support from the traditional finance sector as well as many in the crypto world. Marc Andreesen of A16z, a prominent crypto backer, also has close ties to the Trump White House. But the feud with the Winklevoss brothers proved Quintenz’s undoing.

“Being nominated to chair the CFTC and going through the confirmation process was the honor of my life,” Quintenz said in a message sent to Politico. “I am grateful to the President for that opportunity and to the Senate Agriculture Committee for its consideration. I look forward to returning to my private sector endeavors during this exciting time for innovation in our country.”