‘He won’t shake up the CFTC enough’: How the Winklevoss brothers torpedoed Trump’s regulatory pick

Cryptocurrency billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his nomination for the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showing the growing influence of crypto executives in Washington.

According to Politico, the Winklevoss brothers, who run the crypto company Gemini, reached out to Trump directly last weekend to express their concerns about Brian Quintenz’s nomination to lead the $4 trillion market regulator, according to sources familiar with the private conversation.

During their discussion with the president, the twins argued that Quintenz “wouldn’t shake up the CFTC enough” and suggested that Trump should withdraw the nomination. They specifically pointed to Quintenz’s recent testimony about expanding the CFTC’s budget for crypto regulation as evidence that he wasn’t aligned with Trump’s agenda.

How the nomination process unfolded

The Senate Agriculture Committee canceled its scheduled vote to advance Quintenz’s nomination on Monday following the White House’s request. However, a White House official later confirmed that Quintenz remained the nominee, with senior administration officials now pushing Trump to maintain his choice amid growing pressure.

The situation marks a stark reversal from the Winklevoss brothers’ initial support for Quintenz. When his nomination was first announced in February, both twins publicly praised the choice on social media, with Cameron Winklevoss calling him “exactly the leader the CFTC needs.”

The CFTC, traditionally seen as a regulatory backwater, has gained increased importance in recent years as its oversight expanded from agricultural commodities to complex financial products, including cryptocurrency tokens like bitcoin and ether. Under Trump’s broader cryptocurrency agenda, the agency would receive new authority over these digital assets.

Quintenz brings significant experience to the role, having previously served as a commissioner during Trump’s first administration. He later worked as head of policy for Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund and as a board member for prediction market startup Kalshi. Despite his cryptocurrency industry experience, the Winklevoss brothers’ intervention has created uncertainty around his nomination.

The brothers’ company, Gemini, has its own history with the CFTC, having agreed to pay $5 million in January to settle charges over allegedly misleading statements about a crypto investment product. This background adds another layer of complexity to their opposition to Quintenz’s nomination.