Stalled Quintenz Nomination Pushes White House to Explore New CFTC Chair Picks
TL;DR Breakdown
- White House is seeking alternative candidates for the CFTC chair position as Quintenz’s confirmation stalls
- Brian Quintenz’s nomination is allegedly stalled due to a conflict with the Gemini exchange
- New candidates include Tyler Williams and Michael Selig
The White House is weighing alternative candidates to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as Brian Quintenz’s confirmation stalls over what is alleged to be an enforcement feud with the Gemini exchange and its founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklewoss.
Quintenz’s nomination for CFTC Chair and the subsequent derailment
Brian Quintenz was nominated by President Trump to be Chairman of the CFTC in February. However, the nomination was stalled in July, allegedly at the request of the Winklewoss twins over a dispute regarding the CFTC’s unfair persecution of the Gemini exchange.
The situation escalated earlier this month when Brian Quintenz took it to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal what appear to be private messages between him and the Winklewoss twins. In the screenshots he posted, Tyler expressed his frustration at what he called “7 years of lawfare trophy hunting” aimed at the Gemini exchange. Quintenz in response, promised a fair look but no specific actions until he was confirmed as CFTC Chair.
Brian believes that the twins misled President Trump regarding his nomination and asked for his nomination to be paused.
White House seeks a new nominee
Now, according to a Bloomberg report the White House is weighing alternative candidates to fill in the position of CFTC chair, as the Commission is already short-staffed due to the recent resignations of multiple commissioners. The new candidates include Michael Selig, Chief Counsel of the Crypto Task Force at the US SEC, and Tyler Williams, counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on digital asset policy.
Currently, the Commission is led by only one Commissioner, Caroline Pham, who previously expressed an intention to leave once a new chairperson has been confirmed.
The CFTC is also expected to get more explicit oversight of “digital commodities” under the Clarity Act, and other pending legislations.
