According to PANews, Brian Quintenz has emerged as a strong contender for the position of Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under the leadership of President-elect Trump. Sources familiar with the matter have revealed that Quintenz has been interviewed for the role, and the President-elect's team has completed interviews for the position. An announcement regarding the appointment is expected in the coming days.
Quintenz, a former Republican CFTC commissioner, currently serves as the Head of Policy for a16z Crypto, the digital assets division of venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz. If selected, Quintenz is expected to act as a bridge between digital assets and traditional finance. Before his tenure at the CFTC, he founded and led the hedge fund Saeculum Capital Management and worked on Capitol Hill. During his first term as a CFTC commissioner under the Trump administration, he advocated for the agency to embrace new financial services companies, including those dealing with digital asset derivatives and event contracts, which allow retail investors to bet on the outcomes of various events. Since joining a16z, he has been actively promoting more favorable regulatory policies for both industries, including joining the board of Kalshi Inc., one of the first CFTC-regulated prediction markets.