A16z Policy Lead Emerges As Contender To Chair CFTC Under Trump

Brian Quintenz, the head of policy for the crypto subsidiary of Andreessen Horowitz, a heavyweight VC firm, has reportedly emerged as a frontrunning candidate to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under Trump’s second administration.

On Dec. 12, Bloomberg reported that Brian Quintenz was interviewed for the position, citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter.” Quintenz previously served as a republican CFTC commissioner between 2017 and 2021.

The source said that the President-elect's team has concluded interviews for prospective appointees to chair the CFTC. They added that the Trump team is expected to announce its pick in the coming days.

Fox Business previously named the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency advocacy group The Digital Chamber, Perianne Boring, current CFTC commissioners Summer Mersinger and Caroline Pham, former Chicago Mercantile Exchange regulatory affairs managing director, Jill Sommers, and lawyer Neal Kumar among the candidates being considered to chair the CFTC.

CFTC expansion

The news follows rumors that Trump will expand CFTC oversight over the digital asset sector, suggesting that cryptocurrencies may be regulated as commodities during his second term.

Such a move would contrast drastically from the hostile business climate towards web3 cultivated by the Gary Gensler-led U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Biden administration, which aggressively sought to characterize nearly all digital assets as unlicensed securities.

A recently revealed secret SEC investigation into whether Ethereum comprises a security threatened to place CFTC-regulated Ether futures issuers in violation of SEC rules, igniting pushback from the current CFTC chair, Rostin Benham. In July, Benham said he believes at least 70% of cryptocurrencies are commodities, and petitioned Congress to expand the CFTC’s jurisdiction over digital assets.

Crypto-friendly administration

News of Quintenz’s consideration to head the CFTC coincides with Trump making moves to foster a crypto-friendly regulatory environment in the U.S. during the President-elect’s second term in office.

On Dec. 5, Trump announced that David Sacks will serve in the new role of White House AI & Crypto Czar. Sacks is a former PayPal executive, the founder of a VC firm with 10 web projects in its portfolio, and a Bitcoin investor dating back to 2013.

The news came just a couple of days after Trump revealed Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner and advisor to Reserve Protocol, as his preferred pick to head the SEC.

Trump is also expected to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, and pledged not to sell any of the 212,847 Bitcoin obtained by the U.S. government through law enforcement seizures during his campaign.