Trump CFTC Pick Quintenz Will Get Confirmation Hearing On June 10
The US Senate is finally starting the process of installing a new chair for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The confirmation hearing for Brian Quintenz, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the CFTC chairmanship, will take place on June 10 at 3 pm Eastern in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
You will be able to stream the hearing here.
The confirmation process for Quintenz comes as all eyes are on the CFTC because of a pair of big issues: prediction markets and cryptocurrency.
Prediction market platform Kalshi opened up widespread election betting in the fall thanks to a win in federal court against the CFTC. Crypto.com and Kalshi also started offering sports event contracts in recent months under the auspices of the CFTC. That has unleashed a wave of states pushing back on those offerings as illegal sports betting, leading to cease-and-desist orders in seven states and Kalshi lawsuits in three of those.
The CFTC has taken a hands-off approach as Kalshi’s sports offering has gone from fairly limited in January to offering single-match betting on a variety of sports today. Trading volume at Kalshi is now dominated by sports event contracts.
Quintenz, a member of Kalshi’s board, has said he would resign from that position and divest his interest in the company.
After the confirmation hearing, the committee will hold a meeting and a vote at a later date on whether to send the confirmation to the full Senate. If that happens, the Senate will then debate the nomination and hold an up-or-down vote on Quintenz. A simple majority is needed to confirm him.
The CFTC’s leadership is currently in a state of flux, as all commissioners have either departed already or plan to step down in the future.