Trump Pulls Brian Quintenz Nomination for CFTC

Updated (October 1, 1:20am UTC): This article has been updated with comments from Brian Quintents and more information.

The Trump White House has withdrawn the appointment of Brian Quintz to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“It was an honor of my life to be nominated for CFTC Chairman and go through the confirmation process,” Quintenz told Cointelegraph, confirming Politico’s report on Tuesday.

“I thank the President for that opportunity and thank the Senate Agriculture Committee for its consideration,” Quintenz added. “I look forward to returning to my private sector efforts at this exciting time for innovation in our country.”

Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner and head of crypto policy for A16Z, was widely supported by the crypto industry, but his appointment faced delays in Congress and reported pushbacks from Crypto Exchange Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

It is unclear why Quintenz’s nomination was withdrawn, as the White House has not yet officially announced the move at the time of publication.

Quintenz, Winklevoss Public Spat has been nominated

Quintenz previously claimed that the Winklevoss Brothers had hampered the nomination for the role and put pressure on President Donald Trump to drop the pick.

Quintenz shared a series of private messages between himself and Winklevosses last month on X, claiming that Trump “may have been misunderstood.”

Related: US regulators will move to dismiss rumors of the SEC-CFTC merger and dispel the code.

“I believe these texts reveal what they are asking for from me and what I refuse to promise,” Quintenz said. “It is my understanding that after this exchange they contacted the President and asked him to pause my confirmation for reasons other than those reflected in these texts.”

A message shared by Quintenz shows that Winklevoss Twins was unhappy with his response to discussing information about Gemini’s civil lawsuit with the CFTC.

Some messages show that the brothers are calling for “cultural reform” and that CFTC will end the “law” against crypto companies by moving forward. In response, Quintenz said that if it is confirmed to lead the agency, they will address these issues.

The CFTC is led by Chairman Caroline Pham, who has said he has no full-fledged chairs for almost a year and will leave the agency on Quintenz’s appointment.