The Winklevoss brothers raised concerns to Donald Trump about Brian Quintenz’s nomination to lead the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC), according to reports.
Cryptocurrency billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, famous for their depiction in The Social Network, contacted President Trump directly to express concerns about his nominee to head the commodities regulator, according to sources quoted in Politico.
The Facebook-famous twins, who run crypto exchange Gemini, reportedly pressed Trump to reconsider Quintenz’s nomination to lead the regulator, which has growing influence over digital assets and prediction markets.
It comes as many in the gambling industry, including US trade body the American Gaming Association (AGA), major tribes and the National Council for Problem Gambling (NCPG), have publicly opposed Quintenz’s nomination due to his friendly stance towards prediction markets.
The CFTC’s remit includes oversight of prediction markets platforms like Kalshi, where Quintenz previously served as a board member.
The Winklevoss brothers told the president that Quintenz “wouldn’t shake up the CFTC enough,” one person said.
They also expressed concerns that Quintenz is not aligned with Trump’s agenda, according to a second person familiar with the private conversation.
Senate delays CFTC vote at White House request
The Senate Agriculture Committee scrapped its vote to advance Quintenz’s nomination on Monday (28 July) at the White House’s request, though a White House official later confirmed Quintenz remained the nominee.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Bloomberg: “Brian Quintenz remains President Trump’s nominee to serve as chairman of the CFTC. He will help execute President Trump’s mission of making America the crypto capital of the world and we look forward to his swift confirmation.”
This followed a previous postponement of the vote the previous week, after a delayed flight resulted in Senate Republicans being concerned they no longer had sufficient votes to approve Quintenz.
Quintenz’s nomination in February was initially welcomed by the twins.
Cameron Winklevoss had called Quintenz “exactly the leader the CFTC needs” in a post on X, while Tyler Winklevoss added: “Great choice for crypto and for America.”
However, the brothers’ company Gemini has previously had regulatory run-ins with the CFTC.
In January, Gemini agreed to pay $5m to settle charges over allegedly misleading statements about a crypto investment product.
A former CFTC commissioner during Trump’s first administration, Quintenz has spent recent years working in crypto as head of policy for venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund.