Trump’s CFTC pick Quintenz discloses crypto links, $3.4M assets

US President Donald Trump’s pick to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has disclosed millions of dollars worth of assets, along with his various ties to crypto-related organizations.

In paperwork released by the US Office of Government Ethics on May 25, Brian Quintenz disclosed his key positions in crypto and market firms that would directly relate to the CFTC’s regulatory priorities and disclosed assets worth at least $3.4 million, according to a May 27 Bloomberg report. 

Quintenz was a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021 and is currently the global head of crypto policy at Andreessen Horowitz, a position he said he will step down from if the Senate confirms him as CFTC chair. 

He holds an interest in three AH Capital Management investment funds, CNK Fund III, CNK Seed 1 Fund, and CNK IV Fund, plus capital commitments to related general partners. 

He is also a board member of the prediction markets platform Kalshi and owns stock and unvested stock options in the firm, along with stock and vested stock options in the finance and lending brokerage Next Level Derivatives.

His portfolio intersects directly with two major CFTC policy areas, crypto asset regulation and prediction markets. Kalshi settled a major legal battle with the CFTC over election betting earlier this month. 

Quintenz outlined the steps he will take to avoid conflicts of interest if confirmed as CFTC chairman in an agreement letter to John Einstman, the CFTC’s Designated Agency Ethics Official, dated May 21. 

“I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter,” he stated. 

An excerpt of Brian Quintenz's letter. Source: US Office of Government Ethics

He added that he will resign from all positions and divest conflicting assets within 90 days of confirmation. This includes recusing himself from a16z-related matters for two years, recusing from Kalashi matters for one year, and forfeiting unvested stock options at multiple companies. 

Related: Crypto perp futures coming ‘very soon,’ says CFTC’s Mersinger

Quintenz also said he would comply with standard conflict of interest laws and obtain ethics briefings, but will retain unpaid trustee positions for two family trusts. 

Trump nominated Quintenz to head the financial regulator in February and is currently awaiting Senate confirmation. 

The CFTC has seen an exodus of commissioners recently amid concern over the Trump administration’s crypto embrace, with potentially all four remaining positions being up for grabs this year.

On May 21, Democrat Commissioner Kristin Johnson announced that she plans to depart the agency later this year.

Meanwhile, Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero previously said they would respectively step down on May 30 and May 31.

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