Trump Considers a16z’s Crypto Policy Head For CFTC Chair; Report

Authored by Josh O’Sullivan via CoinTelegraph.com,

Brian Quintenz, a former United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner, has reportedly emerged as the top contender for the CFTC chair position under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

According to a Bloomberg report, people familiar with the matter said that Quintenz had been interviewed for the position.

Currently the head of policy at Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division, a16z, Quintenz’s background includes overseeing key policy initiatives at the CFTC between 2017 and 2021.

The appointment of the former CFTC commissioner may shift the scales in the long-debated jurisdictional lack of clarity over cryptocurrencies between the CFTC and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Quintenz previously served as a Republican-appointed commissioner at the CFTC, advocating for financial innovation of the digital asset industry and currently pushes for regulatory clarity as head of policy at a16z.

During his tenure at the CFTC, he supported the integration of digital asset derivatives and event contracts into the federal agency’s regular framework, focusing on improving innovation while maintaining market integrity. 

At a16z, Quintenz advocates for regulations that balance scrutiny with flexibility in crypto, using his dual experience in traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto regulation to bridge the two playing fields.

Quintenz’s criticism of the SEC

In March, the former CFTC commissioner criticized the SEC for how it handled Ether’s status as a security, arguing that the regulator already “explicitly acknowledged” that Ether ETH$3,960.53 is a non-security asset as of October 2023 when it approved Ether futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Quintenz stated that “if the SEC had any doubt about the regulatory treatment of ETH [...] it wouldn’t have approved the ETF,” adding that if it were a security, the CFTC-listed future contracts “would be illegal.” 

Since then, spot Ether ETFs have not only been approved, but they have flourished, recording their biggest single day of inflows with an aggregate of $431.5 million pouring in on Dec. 5.

Crypto under the Trump administration

The venture capital firm a16z has expressed its opinion on the upcoming Trump administration, stating that it expects “greater flexibility to experiment” in the crypto regulatory shakeup.

The crypto company said it is “very optimistic” about the next government due to its promised pro-crypto political stance — something crypto firms and communities consider lacking under the previous administration.

A16z has been one of the largest investors in the crypto industry, funding hundreds of startup firms, including Maker, Solana, Avalanche, Aptos, EigenLayer, Lido, Nansen, OpenSea, Coinbase and more.