Trump Weighs New CFTC Chair Picks As Quintenz Stalls

The Trump administration is reportedly considering a slate of new candidates to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as Brian Quintenz’s confirmation has stalled.

New candidates being discussed include Michael Selig, chief counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force and a former asset management attorney, and Tyler Williams, Treasury counselor on digital asset policy, who previously worked at Galaxy Digital.  

Cointelegraph contacted the CFTC for further details but did not receive an immediate response.

Brian Quintenz’s nomination hit a wall in July after Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss asked Donald Trump to halt the process, expressing frustration at the Biden administration’s crackdown on his company. 

“Seven years of lawfare trophy hunting. It’s outrageous what they did to us,” he said at the time. The White House then requested that the Senate pause the planned vote.

Earlier this month, Quintenz publicly suggested Trump “might have been misled” by the Winklevoss twins, posting screenshots of private messages on X.

Related: Crypto advocacy groups double down on Quintenz confirmation at CFTC amid pushback

Winklevoss twins flex their influence

The Wall Street Journal described the situation as the Winklevoss twins as “flexing their Washington influence” after backing Trump’s campaign with millions of dollars in donations.

The CFTC is understaffed, with only acting chair Caroline Pham remaining after multiple recent resignations. At the same time, the agency is expected to gain expanded oversight of crypto assets under pending legislation.

Meanwhile, the White House hasn’t officially moved away from Quintenz but is exploring alternatives as discussions about new candidates have intensified recently.

Fostering crypto advancement 

The CFTC has made several moves recently to favor the crypto industry in the United States, such as allowing offshore exchanges to serve US citizens under an initiative called “crypto sprint.”

In August, the Commission launched an initiative to enable the trading of “spot crypto asset contracts” on CFTC-registered futures exchanges.

A pro-crypto agency head will likely extend the advancement of crypto-friendly legislation in the US. 

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