President Donald Trump’s nominee for chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is reportedly making requests that pose conflicts of interest.
According to a report from The Closing Line, potential CFTC Chief of Staff Kevin Webb asking for CFTC Chair nominee Brian Quintenz to discuss made requests to the gorup regadring “confidential matters” while Quintenz is on the board of directors for prediction market Kalshi. Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner, plans to relinquish the role if confirmed as CFTC Chair. Quintenz needs committee approval before a full Senate vote.
According to emails obtained through a FOIA request by The Closing Line, Quintenz’s team asked to discuss confidential matters about several topics, including employees on administrative leave, a list of open applications, and seriatims in circulation, a private consideration and voting process by CFTC commissioners.
The list of open applications included in the requests may refer to pending applications for derivative exchanges, including QCX. The exchange and its holding company were acquired last month by prediction market Polymarket in a deal valued at roughly $112 million.
The CFTC recently approved QCX’s application for a designated contract market (DCM) license. The parent company of prediction market PredictIt and Kalshi competitor, Aristotle, has an open application.
Webb, who has worked closely with Quintenz for nearly a decade, was also allegedly granted permission to access CFTC information to facilitate the potential transaction of Quintenz as CFTC chair if he is confirmed. Webb was alleged to have been granted potential access to CFTC information by the commission’s Acting Chair Caroline Pham.
Quintenz, if confirmed, vows to recuse himself from all Kalshi-related matters for a calendar year. The CFTC chair nominee also told Senate committee members that he will have a screener in his office if awarded the role to ensure there are no conflicts of interest.
It is unclear whether Webb or Quintenz has further discussed confidential matters with the CFTC following the requests made to the commission’s legal counsel in June.
Gemini owners oppose Quintenz’s nomination
Quintenz’s conflicts of interest may fuel opposition against his nomination as CFTC chair.
A pair of cryptocurrency experts, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, reportedly reached out to Trump asking the leader of the free world to reconsider Quintenz’s nomination for CFTC Chair. The owners of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini are requesting a new nominee because they believe Quintenz won’t comprehensively overhaul the CFTC.
The brothers also believe Quintenz would fail to adhere to Trump’s agenda. The Winklevoss brothers want a new nominee after agreeing to a $5 million settlement in January for making “materially false or misleading statements or omissions” to the CFTC.
A series of recent delays for Quintenz
Quintenz was set to go before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on Monday for a vote as CFTC chair before the White House delayed the voting process by requesting Sen. John Boozman to “not go forward” with the nomination.
The White House requested to cancel the vote for an undisclosed reason. The White House is reportedly still supporting Quintenz’s nomination after requesting to postpone the vote.
The cancellation marked the second delay for Quintenz’s nomination. Last week, the vote was allegedly postponed due to a delayed flight for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. GOP members of the committee would not hold the vote without Hyde-Smith present to maintain a Republican majority. Democrats on the committee were reportedly planning to vote against Quintenz with Hyde-Smith’s vote needed to advance the nomination.
