CFTC-Chair nominee Brian Quintenz released private messages on Wednesday that shed light on probable reasons behind the unexplained delays in his confirmation to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The private messages reveal an exchange between Quintenz and Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss that points to a potential attempt to peddle influence.
Quintenz wrote that he was posting the private messages due to his “belief that [President Trump] might have been misled.”
“I believe these texts make it clear what [the Winklevoss twins] were after from me, and what I refused to promise. 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.” You can read the full exchange below:
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.
— Brian Quintenz (@BrianQuintenz) September 10, 2025
What messages between Quintenz and Winklevoss twins reveal
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange regulated by the CFTC that was issued a $5 million fine in January 2025 after a seven-year investigation. In the messages, Quintenz promised a “fair and reasonable review” of what Winklevoss called “7 years of lawfare trophy hunting.”
Quintenz did not commit to a specific remedy, and Winklevoss expressed “disappointment” and went on to expound on his desired cultural reform:
“Cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority. I’d like to understand your thoughts on this and how you plan to align with President Trump and the Administration’s mandate to end the lawfare and make amends for it. If you think someone or something is undermining your abilities to do this, I’d like to know what that is specifically. And I’d be happy to raise the issue with the President himself or whoever else you think necessary.”
Politico reported the Winklevoss twins were opposing Quintenz’s nomination to chair the CFTC in July 2025. The report came after the second delay in a vote to clear Quintenz’s nomination from the Senate Agricultural Committee.
What the CFTC fined Gemini for
The CFTC accused Gemini of making “false or misleading statements” to the CFTC about the terms of a bitcoin futures contract it self-certified in 2017. The contract would be settled based on an auction that determined Bitcoin’s price. For example, if the auction found Bitcoin’s value to be $50,000, then Gemini’s futures contracts would be settled accordingly.
Gemini claimed the contracts were “pre-funded,” so only traders with enough capital to make legitimate trades could participate in the exchange and auction.
However, Gemini failed to disclose that it was lending certain traders money to trade on the exchange. Those loans were “unsecured” and had interest rates “as low as 1% or 1.5%.” Some of these cheap loans included conditions that the money was to be used for trading on the exchange.
Using loans from Gemini amounted to the exchange using its own money to trade on the exchange, an illegal form of market manipulation that makes genuine liquidity appear higher than it is. The loans’ low cost also makes it less expensive to engage in market manipulation, contradicting statements Gemini explicitly made to the CFTC.
The Southern District of New York ordered Gemini to pay a $5 million civil penalty in January 2025.
What is next for Quintenz and CFTC leadership?
Neither Quintenz nor Gemini has commented on these released messages. There is also still no scheduled vote on Quintenz’s nomination.
The Winklevosses’ opposition to Quintenz doesn’t mean that he lacks support from the crypto industry. In August, seven digital asset industry associations signed a letter supporting Quintenz’s nomination. His background as a former CFTC commissioner and head of crypto policy at a16z appears to position him well to oversee the addition of crypto regulation to the CFTC’s regulatory responsibilities.
However, he has also drawn criticism for having conflicts of interest. Emails obtained through a FOIA request by industry journalist Dustin Gouker found that Quintenz was communicating with the CFTC about impending regulatory decisions related to prediction market platforms PredictIt and Polymarket. He requested this information while he was still a board member of Kalshi, a competitor of both exchanges.
Whatever comes of the publicly-released messages, Quintenz’s fight to be confirmed promises to be an ugly one.
