By Chris Prentice and Hannah Lang
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Brian Quintenz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will face questions from lawmakers on Tuesday as they weigh whether he should run an agency poised to take on more oversight of cryptocurrency and prediction markets.
Quintenz, a Republican who was previously a commissioner at the agency he would now chair, is expected to face scrutiny over his ties to industries he would oversee. Since leaving government in 2021, he had been working with a16z crypto, the crypto arm of Andreessen Horowitz, most recently as head of crypto policy.
He is also a Director on the board of KalshiEx, a prediction market exchange that until recently was embroiled in litigation with the CFTC. Quintenz has pledged to divest all KalshiEx stock if he joins the CFTC, according to his financial disclosures.
He is also on the board of the Crypto Council for Innovation, the disclosures show.
Quintenz did not respond immediately to a request for comment, but in prepared remarks he said his work for Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto funds has given him “invaluable insights”.
“Congress should create an appropriate market regulatory regime to ensure that this technology’s full promise can be realized,” he said. “I am fully prepared to use my experience and expertise to assist in that effort as well in executing any expanded mission should legislation pass into law.”
The CFTC, which oversees derivatives markets, is likely to play a more prominent role as Trump’s administration looks to overhaul crypto regulations, with an eye towards giving the CFTC more authority to police digital assets. The sector has argued that existing rules are not appropriate for crypto, and that most cryptocurrencies should be treated as commodities.
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.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; editing by Pete Schroeder and Alex Richardson)
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