According to several press reports citing a White House report from Tuesday, original CFTC director Brian Quintenz is expected to leave the organization following his choice by President Donald Trump.
Following speculations in December that Trump was considering Quintenz among other individuals, Quintenz’s term as president and director may come to an end on April 13, 2029. However, Rostin Behnam will take over as Vice Chair, succeeding Christy Goldsmith Romero.
Quintenz previously served as a Republican commissioner at the CFTC from 2017 to 2021. He currently leads crypto policy at the crypto arm of venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz ( a16z ).
Along with other new takes, such as Treasurer Scott Bessent, his election could signal a shift toward more crypto-friendly monitoring of the$ 400 trillion compounds market.
A16zcrypto, the enterprise investment firm’s crypto arm, has engaged assets in a portfolio that includes Solana, Uniswap, Story, Lido, Optimism, Farcaster, and EigenLayer, among others.
During his past CFTC career, Quintenz emerged as one of crypto’s strongest activists in Washington, usually drawing comparisons to SEC Commissioner Hester” Crypto Mom” Peirce for his pro-innovation position.
In 2022, interviewed Quintenz, where he spoke about the “regulatory landgrab” between the SEC and CFTC at the time.
” Some of those things are true, but if you have well-tailored, appropriately calibrated legislation, the final result could be huge wet markets with very strong dignity that become worldwide access points for risk management, hedging opportunities, and cost discovery”, Quintenz said at the moment.
The Trump administration’s decision to alter crypto legislation is part of a wider trend.
Trump’s recently appointed AI and Crypto Czar, David Sacks, has shared plans to work with Congress on new “market construction” regulations that would benefit the business.
” I think there’s a pretty good chance we can get this done in the next six months”, Sacks said on an” All-In” podcast.
The derivatives regulation is more suited to modern resource innovation, according to the crypto industry, who has long advocated for CFTC jurisdiction over SEC oversight.
A16z did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Quintenz’s election.
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