White House withdraws nomination of pro-virtual-asset figure Brian Quintenz as CFTC chair nominee

The White House has ultimately withdrawn the nomination of former commissioner Brian Quintenz, who had been expected to become chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after being nominated by President Donald Trump. The decision came after months of controversy over his suitability.

According to CoinDesk on the 1st (local time), Quintenz said in a statement, "Being nominated as CFTC chair and going through the confirmation process was the greatest honor of my life," and "I thank the President and the Senate Agriculture Committee and will continue to pursue innovation in the private sector," he said.

Quintenz served as a CFTC commissioner from 2017 and had shown a supportive stance toward the virtual asset industry. In particular, he proposed a self-regulatory organization for virtual assets similar to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). After leaving the commission, he joined Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) as global head of policy, and also advised predictive market platform Kalshi, among others.

However, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, publicly opposed his nomination, which intensified the controversy. Quintenz released messages exchanged with the two recently and claimed, "The real reason for the opposition is that I did not publicly state a position on the CFTC enforcement action related to Gemini."

Industry groups and companies sent letters of support and attempted to push for Quintenz's reappointment, but the White House repeatedly asked the Senate Agriculture Committee to delay the confirmation vote. Ultimately, the administration withdrew the nomination and began vetting candidates for the next chair. The CFTC is currently operating under Acting Chair Caroline Pham.

This vacancy occurred while the U.S. Congress is discussing a bill to expand the CFTC's regulatory authority over virtual asset spot markets, raising concerns that the legislative process could be delayed.