Brian Quintenz Releases Private Messages, Says CFTC Confirmation Paused at Request of Winklevoss Twins

Brian Quintenz has claimed that the Winklevoss twins contacted President Donald Trump to put his appointment as Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair on hold.

Quintenz released private messages exchanged with Tyler Winklevoss, as he believed the crypto billionaires may have misled Trump.

He posted on X: “I’ve never been inclined to release private messages. But in light of my support for the President and belief that he might have been misled, I’ve posted here the messages that include the questions Tyler Winklevoss asked me pertaining to their prior litigation with the CFTC.”

He then posted screenshots of the exchange that occurred on July 24 and said that: “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.”

Quintenz is Trump’s nominee to lead the CFTC, but his appointment is on hold after the White House delayed a vote on his confirmation at the end of July.

Winklevoss Criticizes CFTC ‘Lawfare’ Against Gemini

The messages show that Winklevoss wants Quintenz to address what he views as “lawfare” against his company, Gemini. He writes, “The CFTC totally abused the deliberative process privilege amongst many other abuses to prevent us from even [being] able to defend ourselves fairly in court.”

He added: “7 years of lawfare trophy hunting. It’s outrageous what they did to us.”

The CFTC sued Gemini Trust, the exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers, back in 2022. The lawsuit alleged that Gemini had provided false or misleading statements in relation to the launch of a bitcoin futures contract on the CFTC-licensed Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE).

Gemini’s exchange was the proposed settlement price source for the CFE futures contract. The lawsuit was settled in January this year, with Gemini paying a $5 million penalty, although it did not admit to wrongdoing.

In his responses to Winklevoss, Quintenz refused to commit to any action on the matter if he were appointed. Instead, he said: “I commit to you to having a fair and reasonable review of the matter and the division and the individuals involved to determine if they acted inappropriately.”

Quintenz & Winklevoss Vie for Trump’s Attention

Apparently angered by Quintenz’s lack of commitment to righting the wrong that was done to him, Winklevoss then requested that Trump halt Quintenz’s appointment.

The New York Post reported that after the exchange, Quintenz boarded a plane to New York and arrived unannounced at the Winklevoss office. Tyler refused to meet him, saying he was unavailable.

Winklevoss and Quintenz both argue they are completely committed to Trump. Quintenz ended his post on X by writing: “I am proud to have consistently supported President Trump since 2016, having served in his first administration and on the transition team for his second administration, and through my recent nomination process and confirmation hearing testimony in front of the U.S. Senate.”

He added: “I look forward to continuing to support his agenda in whatever capacity I can.”

Winklevoss, meanwhile, emphasized: “I support President Trump 100%,” but questioned whether Quintenz shares his faith in their leader. He commented: “His stated positions are not aligned with President Trump and the Administration’s stated goals.”

Along with the Winklevoss twins, lawmakers have questioned the nomination of Quintenz, particularly due to his position at Kalshi. Quintenz is currently a board member of the CFTC-licensed platform, but says he will step down from his post and relinquish shares in the company if elected.

The Senate returned from recess this week, which could lead to a vote on Quintenz’s appointment in the Senate Agriculture Committee shortly. It is unclear whether the public show of commitment to Trump and criticism of Winklevoss will have a positive effect on his nomination.