The candidate for the CFTC chair, Brian Quintenz, published several messages which he had exchanged with Tyler Winklevoss, apparently in order to put his process of appointment on the right track.
You read State of Crypto, a Coindesk newsletter looking at the intersection of the cryptocurrency and the government. Click here to register for future editions.
The story
On Wednesday, during the Coindesk policy and regulation event, a major conversation subject was a post of the former commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brian Quintenz, in which he shared the cat newspapers of a conversation with the co -founder and chief executive officer, Tyler Winklevoss, an unexpected move of a former official who waits for the Senate command regulator.
Why it matters
The Path of Quintenz to become president of the CFTC seemed clear until the end of July, when the Senate Committee of Agriculture reported twice a key vote to advance its appointment. The White House asked the committee to suspend the vote without initially provided an explanation, although Winklevoss later told Coindesk that he had pressure on the White House to impose this socket. The CFTC should become the main regulator of the Crypto cash market in the United States and is currently led by the acting president, Caroline Pham, who intends to leave the agency after the appointment of Quintenz and no other commissioner. The potential lack of leadership as the agency is responsible for new mandates could slow down or otherwise complicate any regulations in which it is committed.
Decompose it
An active candidate pending a vote in the Senate sharing an exchange he had with donors to the president is unusual. In his article, Quintenz said that he had “never been inclined to release private messages” but that he thought that President Donald Trump “could have been misleading.”
“I published here the messages that include the questions that Tyler Winklevoss asked me about their previous dispute with the CFTC,” he said. “I believe that these texts clearly indicate what they were looking for from me and what I refused to promise. I understand that after this exchange, they contacted the president and asked that my confirmation be interrupted for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts.”
The texts he shared showed that he had exchanged messages with Winklevoss on July 24 and 25. The first vote postponed to the Senate agriculture committee was initially scheduled for July 21, and the reprogrammed vote was on July 28. The White House asked at least the second vote.
The spokesperson for Gemini and the Senate of Agriculture Committee did not return any requests for comments, and an official of the White House press could not be attached. Quintenz refused to comment beyond his post when he was reached earlier this week by Coindesk.
The messages concerned Gemini’s complaint with the CFTC Inspector General linked to a CFTC case against the Stock Exchange, which was settled earlier this year. Winklevoss asked Quintenz his reflections on the complaint, while Quintenz said on several occasions that he would be better for “a fully confirmed chair” to weigh on the issue.
It is not clear of messages if Winklevoss asked for a counterpart (He mentioned that Quintenz had asked for approval) Or was simply trying to confirm to his own satisfaction that Quintenz would end what Winklevoss described as “law” against Gemini and reshaped the agency to be more favorable to industry.
At the end of Quintenz, his reluctance was probably political savages – if he had made a form of commitment, he may have had to reject himself with the question when he arrives at the agency. If he made a commitment and he became a public before a vote in the Senate, it would probably become a subject of discussion if there is a debate on his appointment. Quintenz also declared in the messages that he had “nothing close to a complete image of what is happening inside the building” and that he “decided to wait until I could go into the role to obtain this point of view rather than trying to obtain it now thanks to the current leadership”.
The Quintenz confirmation votes calendar – it needs both the Senate Committee for Agriculture to advance the Senate and the whole Senate to confirm it – stay in question. But it is a sign of how much this process has slowed down that he thought that the publication of these messages would help his cause.
Monday
- There is no hearing or votes planned for this next week.
If you have reflections or questions about what I should discuss next week or any other comment you want to share, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail at nik@PK Press Club.com or to find me on Bluesky @ nikhileshde.bsky.social.
You can also join the group conversation on Telegram.
See you next week!
