By Chris Prentice and Hannah Lang
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. senators pressed Brian Quintenz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, on Tuesday about potential conflicts of interest and leading an agency where all existing commissioners are poised to exit.
Quintenz, a Republican who previously was a commissioner at the agency, has been working with a16z crypto, the crypto arm of Andreessen Horowitz since leaving government in 2021.
The CFTC, which is expected to take on more oversight of both crypto and prediction markets, currently only has two commissioners, both of whom have said they plan to leave in the near future.
The CFTC is typically led by a bipartisan group of five commissioners. The president has historically nominated commissioners from both parties to serve.
Democratic Senators Raphael Warnock and Tina Smith pressed Quintenz on whether he would advocate for the Trump administration to nominate Democratic commissioners, maintaining a bipartisan structure.
"I don’t tell the president what to do," Quintenz said, promising to work with whoever is at the commission to maintain a bipartisan spirit.
It was an answer Smith described as "disappointing." Still, Quintenz is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans enjoy a slim majority.
The lawmakers also pressed Quintenz on his ties to cryptocurrency and prediction markets firms, questioning whether he could avoid conflicts of interest.
Quintenz has been a director on the board of KalshiEx, a prediction market exchange that until recently was embroiled in litigation with the CFTC, according to his financial disclosures. He has pledged to divest all KalshiEx stock if he returns to the CFTC, according to those disclosures. A spokesperson for KalshiEx did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Even if you recuse yourself there will remain a potential appearance of a conflict," Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said.
Quintenz said his work for Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto funds has given him "invaluable insights" and that he would use his experience to assist the agency in any "expanded mission."
The CFTC, which oversees derivatives markets, is likely to play a more prominent role as Trump’s administration looks to overhaul crypto regulations.
Trump courted crypto cash with promises to be a "crypto president," and in office has made a number of overtures to the industry. His family is also building a crypto enterprise.