Most Influential: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

The U.S. President’s prime to tally the CFTC seemed acceptable to sail done Congress, until Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss stepped in.

Dec 9, 2025, 3:00 p.m.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is poised to go a superior marketplace regulator for cryptocurrencies and businesses, should authorities pending earlier Congress go law. And astatine the opening of the year, erstwhile CFTC Commissioner and Andreessen Horowitz Crypto Head of Policy Brian Quintenz seemed acceptable to instrumentality charge of that agency, putting the pro-crypto policymaker astatine the forefront of penning rules the crypto manufacture has agelong sought — that is, until the committee abruptly announced it would postpone the ballot connected his nomination, twice, yet saying the White House asked it not to clasp the ballot connected President Donald Trump’s nominee, without further explanation.

Gemini (GEMI) co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss took credit for pausing and yet sinking Quintenz’s nomination, indicating conscionable however overmuch power the billionaire crypto executives and salient Trump donors tin wield wrong the existent medication portion derailing the confirmation process for a regulator overmuch of the remainder of the crypto manufacture wanted to spot installed.

“Many successful our manufacture person important concerns astir this nomination,” Tyler Winklevoss told CoinDesk successful August, soon aft the confirmation votes were postponed. “Mr. Quintenz is not aligned with the president’s stated docket and objectives.”

Quintenz, for his part, mostly kept quiescent astir the turmoil surrounding his information until September, erstwhile helium released messages he’d exchanged with Winklevoss, wherever Winklevoss appeared to inquire Quintenz to instrumentality a steadfast presumption connected however the CFTC handled a lawsuit against Gemini that was settled successful January 2025.

“I judge these texts marque it wide what they were aft from me,” Quintenz said successful a societal media post, adding that helium believed Winklevoss’s communications with the President misled Trump.

"I cognize we had spoken astir this successful the wintertime wherever I recalled my archetypal utmost disappointment astatine [the Enforcement Division] for pursuing this truthful aggressively," Quintenz said successful 1 of the messages posted. "I perpetrate to you to having a just and tenable reappraisal of the substance and the part and individuals progressive to find if they acted inappropriately."

Despite his push, the White House withdrew his nomination a fewer weeks later.

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