The White House has withdrawn Brian Quintenz’s nomination to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), marking a reversal for the candidate who had once been considered highly likely to secure Senate confirmation.
Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner who previously worked at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and prediction market Kalshi, had significant support from both cryptocurrency advocates and stakeholders in the financial sector.
A White House source confirmed the nomination had been withdrawn following a report by Politico.
Quintenz’s abrupt withdrawal, which comes following reported challenges from the founders of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, leaves the administration searching for a new nominee to guide the agency at a critical regulatory juncture.
Potential replacements are already being discussed, with several names emerging as possible contenders.
Among them is Mike Selig, chief counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force.
Tyler Williams, a crypto policy adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is reportedly another option, as is Josh Sterling, a former CFTC official and current partner at the Milbank law firm.
Milbank has been a regular defender for Kalshi in some of its legal battles.
Jill Sommers, a former CFTC commissioner, is also on the list for potential consideration.
The administration has not yet finalised its direction, but the pool reflects a balance between crypto-specific expertise and broader financial regulatory experience.
CFTC finally addresses sports betting prediction markets
At the same time, the CFTC has issued an advisory formally acknowledging the challenges faced by sports event contracts, a topic that has generated significant legal and regulatory disputes.
The guidance suggested that sports-related prediction market contracts could face termination due to state-level legal actions.
Several states have already issued cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, alleging unlicensed sports betting, while the platform remains engaged in litigation with three jurisdictions.
The advisory prompted industry observers to question whether the CFTC, in its current transitional state, will support operators’ claims of federal preemption or take a more cautious stance that avoids direct conflict with state regulators.
Andrew Kim, a partner at the Goodwin law firm and a regular gambling analyst, touched on this in a LinkedIn post.
Kim stated that the CFTC’s letter makes him wonder if “current CFTC (i.e. a CFTC without new leadership) will support sports prediction markets in that preemption fight — or whether it will simply stay above the fray. A CFTC exercising this kind of prudence about parallel authority may not share the view of prediction market operators that the agency’s ‘exclusive’ jurisdiction should exclude the states.”