Recent reports revealed that the White House has withdrawn Brian Quintenz’s nomination to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after the pro-crypto candidate’s confirmation process was stalled in July.
Quintenz’s CFTC Chair Nomination Withdrawn
On Tuesday, Politico reported that the White House had pulled Brian Quintez’s nomination for CFTC chairman following opposition from major crypto industry players, according to two anonymous sources who spoke with the news media outlet.
According to the report, a White House official confirmed that Quintenz’s nomination was withdrawn, affirming that “Brian Quintenz remains a trusted ally and the Trump administration looks forward to working with him in other capacities.”
“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 official added.
Notably, President Trump’s CFTC chair pick had been in confirmation limbo since July, after the US Senate Agriculture Committee delayed a crucial vote to advance the process days before the August recess. At the time, reports claimed that the committee stalled Quintenz’s confirmation process following a request from the White House.
The delay reportedly followed opposition from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini co-founders, who allegedly pressed President Trump to reconsider his CFTC chair pick, arguing that he wouldn’t “shake up” the Commission enough and was not aligned with Trump’s crypto agenda.
Last month, Quintenz seemingly confirmed the reports, suggesting that the Winklevoss twins might have “misled” the US President after a text exchange between the three. As reported by Bitcoinist, the crypto exchange founders inquired about the then-CFTC nominee’s opinion on a complaint letter, but were ultimately disappointed and surprised by his response.
In a message to Politico, Quintenz stated, “Being nominated to chair the CFTC and going through the confirmation process was the honor of my life.” “I am grateful to the President for that opportunity and to the Senate Agriculture Committee for its consideration,” he affirmed, adding that he looks forward to returning to the private sector.
CFTC’s Pro-Crypto Leadership To Be Determined
Despite Quintenz’s widespread support from both the crypto and traditional financial industries, his nomination was not only opposed by the Winklevoss twins. The traditional gaming industry has also opposed the former CFTC chair candidate due to his ties to the up-and-coming prediction market firm Kalshi, the report noted.
Additionally, Democratic House of Representatives member Dina Titus reacted to the news on X, writing, “Good. The CFTC deserves strong, independent leadership that will follow and enforce agency regulations.”
The White House official said a new candidate would be announced “in the near future.” Two weeks ago, Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration was weighing additional nominees to chair the CFTC amid the delay in Quintenz’s confirmation process.
Among the contenders, the White House was reportedly considering Michael Selig, chief counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Crypto Task Force, and Tyler Williams, counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on digital asset policy.
Politico sources claimed that Josh Sterling, a former CFTC official who is now a partner at Milbank, and former CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers, are also being considered to lead the regulatory agency.
It’s worth noting that the highly anticipated market structure is expected to shift most of the crypto market supervision to the CFTC, exponentially increasing the regulator’s responsibilities.
Currently, the agency, which is intended to be a five-person, bipartisan commission, is down to only acting Chairwoman Caroline Pham, who is expected to depart from the agency once a permanent leader is selected.
Multiple industry players have emphasized that installing a permanent Chairman is “absolutely critical” to realizing the Commission’s goals and to ensure a “golden age of crypto innovation.”
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