Brian Quintez, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee, printed a textual content change he had with Tyler Winklevoss in his first public assertion since his affirmation course of appeared to stall over the summer time on the White Home’s path, saying he believed that Trump “might have been misled.”
Quintenz shared a collection of textual content messages he stated he’d exchanged with Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founder and CEO of crypto change Gemini — which is about to go public this week — and Winklevoss Capital. Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler’s twin brother and co-founder, could have additionally been within the group chat, which was titled “tw-cw-bq” however didn’t ship any messages within the screenshots shared by Quintenz. Within the chat, dated July 24, Tyler Winklevoss requested Quintenz if he’d seen a put up on X from June 17 the place Tyler introduced Gemini had filed a criticism with the CFTC’s inspector common about Division of Enforcement attorneys who had pursued prices towards Gemini.
“I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise,” Quintenz stated in his posts, representing a extremely uncommon transfer for a nominee within the midst of a federal affirmation course of. “It’s my understanding that after this exchange they contacted the president and asked that my confirmation be paused for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts.”
Earlier than the Senate left Washington for its August break, Quintenz’s nomination was set for what was regarded as a simple procedural step within the Senate Agriculture Committee to advance it to the ground for his ultimate affirmation vote. However the White Home halted that vote for causes it did not clarify on the time, although Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss had been waging a rhetorical marketing campaign to cease his affirmation.
Winklevoss advised CoinDesk in an interview in July that he’d been making the case that Quintenz was a nasty alternative due to the previous commissioner’s want to enhance the CFTC price range to supervise the crypto {industry}, his previous views on the authorized legal responsibility for crypto builders and what Winklevoss characterised as Quintenz’s improper makes an attempt to affect the CFTC on behalf of prediction market agency Kalshi.
Learn extra: Gemini’s Tyler Winklevoss Says Trump CFTC Decide Quintenz Has ‘Disqualifying’ Views
Quintenz’s put up on Wednesday urged that, in his view, Winklevoss was upset that Quintenz didn’t take part criticism of CFTC’s enforcement efforts after the company pursued prices towards Gemini that had been settled in January.
“I know we had spoken about this in the winter where I recalled my original extreme disappointment at [the Enforcement Division] for pursuing this so aggressively,” a textual content from Quintenz stated. “I commit to you to having a fair and reasonable review of the matter and the division and individuals involved to determine if they acted inappropriately.”
He went on to say {that a} “fully confirmed chair” needs to be the particular person to deal with the matter, however that if somebody at present employed by the CFTC was “communicating with” the Winklevosses, he must “give that careful thought.”
Winklevoss requested if Quintenz was saying that Gemini ought to have waited to file their criticism till after the Senate confirmed the previous commissioner, to which Quintenz replied that “any decision or response to your complaint should be made by and given the full weight of the confirmed chair.”
The crypto govt stated they’d spoken in regards to the CFTC’s enforcement effort towards Gemini after Quintenz requested for the Winklevoss brothers’ endorsement in December.
“Cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority,” Winklevoss stated. “I’d like to understand your thoughts on this and how you plan to align with President Trump and the administration’s mandate to end the lawfare and make amends for it.”
He added that he would “be happy to raise the issue with the president himself” if Quintenz thought he was being undermined by present CFTC staff.
Quintenz, Winklevoss and a spokesperson for Gemini didn’t instantly return requests for remark. CoinDesk couldn’t independently confirm the texts’ authenticity.
In July, a coalition that represented the overwhelming majority of the crypto {industry} got here out to press President Donald Trump to maneuver ahead to get Quintenz confirmed, calling him the “right person at the right time” to run the CFTC. Although the Senate has been again from break for some time and has returned to its affirmation work for a lot of of Trump’s appointees, the committee hasn’t but scheduled a follow-up vote for Quintenz
In the meantime, Securities and Trade Fee Chairman Paul Atkins has been urgent ahead on an industry-friendly “Project Crypto” initiative whereas the short-term chief on the CFTC, Performing Chairman Caroline Pham has been standing in on the sister company with an identical “crypto sprint.” The 2 of them have made current joint strikes to clear the regulatory path for digital property.
