Brian Kintenz, a former member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and chairman of US President Donald Trump’s agency, cannot face a vote in the Senate after suggesting that Trump is considering other candidates for the job.
Semer’s report on Wednesday revealed that the Trump administration reviewed Josh Sterling, former director of the CFTC’s market participants division, and was chairing the agency as Quintenz’s nomination reportedly stagnated.
Sterling, who worked for the CFTC from 2019 to 2021, was appointed to his position during the first Trump administration and faced no Senate votes. He is a partner at Milbank, an international law firm.
Other candidates reportingly leading financial regulators included Mike Selig, the chief attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cryptographic task force and adviser of SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. Tyler Williams, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and former global policy director for Galaxy Digital, also reportedly took part in the running.
Quintenz, who Trump nominated to lead the CFTC in February, faced lawmakers at a June hearing with the Senate Agriculture Committee, and was expected to head to the vote before the Chamber of Commerce rested at the end of July. However, the White House requested that the committee delay Quintenz’s consideration without explanation.
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Since September 3rd, after CFTC Commissioner Christine Johnson’s departure, the agency’s leadership has been solely assigned to acting chairman Caroline Femme. According to Sterling, who wrote a legal article for Milbank colleague Amanda Olea in June, in particular for Bloomberg, the departure of one of the most important US financial regulators, the commissioner, could put the market at risk.
“Leaving key regulators at unmanned risk allows us to ignore financial markets that are essential to the US economy. These markets are important to everyday commerce and have proven again and again. […] Becoming a shock absorber that is important for financial risk. It absolutely makes no sense to leave their supervisors suspicious. ”
In a September 12 letter to CFTC and Treasury officials, Sterling criticized the agency under Femme for “abuse, management and waste” defending Milbank clients.
Have Winklevosses influenced Trump’s CFTC pick?
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Cryptocurrency Exchange Gemini, supported Trump by donating $2 million in Bitcoin (BTC) during the 2024 campaign. They continued to pledge financial support for the president’s crypto agenda, and in August donated $21 million worth of BTC to the Trump Political Action Committee.
Due to their financial support or public statements in favor of the president, Winklevosse appears to have at least some influence on the crypto policy coming from the White House. The Gemini co-founder attended the signing ceremony for the President’s stable coin bill, Genius Act, in July, and reportedly was in the push for Trump to delay the Quintets Senate vote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry9mi57pbjs
On September 10, Quintenz provided some evidence in support of reports that Winklevosses was pushing Trump against another CFTC candidate. He released a text message between himself and his two brothers via social media, suggesting that Gemini was looking for certain assurances regarding CFTC enforcement actions if the Senate confirmed Quintenz.
Despite letters to Trump from several cryptocurrency and Blockchain Associations advocating for Quintenz’s confirmation, his potential role in leading the CFTC was uncertain. As of Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee calendar had not indicated a hearing that considered Quintenz’s appointment as CFTC chair.
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