The White House withdrew former trading commissioner Brian Quintenz’s nomination to run the agency late Tuesday and gave up a month-long battle for US President Donald Trump’s election to agency chairman.
Trump knocked on Quintenz shortly after re -taking the office. Quintenz joined the venture company Antressen Horowitz’s global police chief and has been an adviser to companies such as Prediction Marketplace Kalshi since leaving CFTC after his period as commissioner.
In a statement to Coindesk, Quintenz said, “to be nominated to shape CFTC and review the verification process was honor for my life. I am grateful to president [am] Looking forward to returning to my efforts in my private sector in this exciting time for innovation in our country. “
Politico and Punchbowl News reported earlier that the White House had withdrawn Quintenz’s nomination.
Quintenz has made statements in favor of the crypto industry since his first period as a commissioner, including flowing the idea of a self -regulating organization for the industry similar to Securities Markets’ Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra). Despite this, Crypto Exchange Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, both of them support Trump-contrary to his nomination in late July, with Tyler who told Coindesk that he didn’t think Quintenz views on developers and his work with Kalshi qualified him for the role.
However, Quintenz released messages he had exchanged with the Winklevoss brothers earlier this month, suggesting that they really opposed his nomination because he would not commit to a public view of a CFTC enforcement action against Gemini. In his messages, Quintenz said it would be better for a “fully confirmed chairman” to review CFTC’s actions.
Crypto lobbyist organizations and businesses wrote a public letter supporting his nomination in a late August, putting his nomination back on track.
Still, the White House asked the Senate Agricultural Committee to postpone a vote on Quintenz’s nomination a few times in July. Last week, Semaphor reported that new candidates had begun to run the agency, which is currently helped by acting chairman Caroline Pham. All the other commissioners at the Agency at the beginning of 2025 have since left, and Pham has stated that she intends to depart also departure at some point, Coindesk reported earlier.
CFTC’s potential lack of a permanent chairman comes as Congress considers legislation that would give the agency a more prominent role in the regulation of crypto -spot markets, although the legislative process is likely to be delayed by a pending government stop.
Update (September 30, 2025, 23:48 UTC): Adds additional context, clarifies that Quintenz joined A16Z after his period as CFTC Commissioner.
