A Senate committee was set to vote on Brian Quintenz’s nomination as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday afternoon. Until it wasn’t.
In the end, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry never took up the issue as scheduled, reportedly as a result of one senator’ being unable to vote because of a flight delay.
Bloomberg financial regulation reporter Yash Roy posted on Monday at 6:20 p.m. ET, around an hour after the meeting was expected to take place, that the committee pushed the confirmation vote due to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s delayed flight. His Bloomberg colleague Lydia Beyoud added that another nominee was also removed at the last minute, and that the committee needed all GOP members present for their votes.
Per Roy, committee Chair John Boozman predicted that the committee vote will happen before the August recess.
Will Democrats support Quintenz nomination? (Y/N)
Quintenz is President Donald Trump’s nominee to take over as the highest-ranking member of the federal derivatives regulator, which oversees prediction markets such as Kalshi and Crypto.com. Quintenz is a former advisor at Crypto.com and is currently a board member of Kalshi, who also have Trump’s son Donald Jr. on board as an advisor.
The Democrats on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry committee are expected to vote against Quintenz’s nomination, per Roy. That means that all Republican members would be needed to move his nomination to the full Senate.
During his nomination hearing, high-profile Democrats like Sen. Adam Schiff and Sen. Cory Booker grilled the nominee on his relationship with Kalshi and his stance on sports contracts. Schiff represents California, a state with particularly strong tribal influence, and reiterated his concerns these contracts are an Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) violation.
Quintenz has vowed to step away from his Kalshi role if he is confirmed as CTFC chair, as well as to recuse himself from all matters involving the company for a year. At a hearing of the committee back in June, he suggested he would take a lax stance on prediction markets offering sports event contracts, and that the CFTC may appeal any court ruling that tried to stop it.
Crypto associations say he’s the man
Last week, groups including the American Gaming Association, the National Council for Problem Gambling, the Indian Gaming Association, the National Congress of American Indians and two dozen state or tribal organizations wrote to the committee to urge it not to advance Quintenz’s nomination without further assurances and scrutiny.
“It should be deeply troubling to this Committee that he offered no assurances that the CFTC under his leadership would enforce its own regulations,” wrote the signees. “This is even more concerning based on the fact that Mr. Quintenz is poised to not only become the CFTC Chair but could also be the sole commissioner based on current vacancies and planned departures.”
The CFTC typically has five commissioners, but currently has only two: Acting Chair Caroline Pham, who will step down once a new chair arrives, and Kristin Johnson, who has said she will leave before the end of the year.
After that letter, the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) both issued statements supporting Quintenz’s nomination for CTFC chair.
“Brian’s deep expertise and forward-looking perspective — especially on emerging technologies like cryptocurrency and decentralized finance — make him uniquely qualified to lead the CFTC this pivotal moment,” wrote Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger, who left her role as a CFTC commissioner at the end of May, on Monday.
The CCI said in its own July 21 post that Quintenz’s past experience as a CFTC commissioner and work on the Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) “demonstrate his forward-thinking application of the CFTC’s principles-based approach to innovative technologies, market development, and consumer protection.”
Quintenz was previously a CTFC commissioner from 2017 to 2021.
“This experience will ensure Mr. Quintenz will provide the leadership at the CFTC necessary to make certain that US derivatives and commodity markets remain at the forefront — innovative, resilient and globally respected,” the CCI added.
