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Former US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) member and US President Donald Trump’s pick to chair the agency, Brian Quintenz, may not face a vote in the Senate after reports suggested Trump was considering other candidates for the job.
According to a Wednesday Semafor report, the Trump administration was vetting Josh Sterling, a former director at the CFTC’s market participants division, to chair the agency as Quintenz’s nomination reportedly stalled.
Sterling, who worked at the CFTC from 2019 to 2021, was appointed to his position during the first Trump administration and did not face a Senate vote. He is a partner at Milbank, an international law firm.
Other candidates to lead the financial regulator reportedly included Mike Selig, who serves as chief counsel at the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) crypto task force and is an adviser to SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Tyler Williams, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the former global head of policy at Galaxy Digital, was also reportedly in the running.
Quintenz, whom Trump nominated in February to head the CFTC, faced lawmakers in a June hearing at the Senate Agriculture Committee and had been expected to head for a vote at the end of July before the chamber went on recess. However, the White House requested that the committee delay consideration of Quintenz without explanation.
Related: CFTC initiative to allow stablecoins as collateral in derivatives markets
Since Sept. 3, following the departure of CFTC commissioner Kristin Johnson, the agency’s leadership has been staffed solely by acting chair Caroline Pham. According to Sterling, who notably penned a Bloomberg Law article in June with his Milbank colleague, Amanda Olear, the exodus of commissioners at one of the most significant US financial regulators could put markets at risk:
“Leaving a key regulator undermanned risks letting financial markets critical to the US economy fall into neglect. Those markets are crucial to routine commerce, and they have proven time and again […] to be an important shock absorber for financial risk. It makes absolutely no sense to leave their oversight in doubt.”
In a Sept. 12 letter to CFTC and Treasury officials, Sterling also criticized the agency under Pham for “abuse, mismanagement, and waste” in defense of a Milbank client.
Are the Winklevosses influencing Trump’s CFTC pick?
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, supported Trump during his 2024 campaign by contributing $2 million in Bitcoin (BTC). They have continued to pledge financial support for the president’s crypto agenda, donating $21 million worth of BTC to a pro-Trump political action committee in August.
Whether due to their financial support or public statements supporting the president, the Winklevosses appear to have at least some influence over crypto policy coming from the White House. The Gemini co-founders attended a signing ceremony in July for the president’s stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act, and were reportedly behind Trump’s push to delay Quintenz’s Senate vote.
On Sept. 10, Quintenz provided some evidence to support reports that the Winklevosses were pressing Trump for another CFTC candidate. He released text messages between himself and the two brothers over social media, suggesting that Gemini was looking for certain assurances regarding CFTC enforcement actions should the Senate confirm Quintenz.
Despite a letter to Trump from several cryptocurrency and blockchain associations advocating for Quintenz’s confirmation, his potential role heading the CFTC was uncertain. As of Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee calendar showed no hearing to consider Quintenz’s nomination as CFTC chair.
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