Buried beneath yesterday’s tragedies was some groundbreaking financial news: the CFTC Chairman nominee and Head of Policy for a16z crypto, Brian Quintenz, posted personal messages from the Winklevii regarding whether or not he would support their whims once he became chairman.
The messages, which were lengthy and purposely vague, seem to ask Quintenz to “rectify what happened to [Gemini]” and implement “cultural reform” within the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Quintenz didn’t push back on these requests and implied that when it comes to the CFTC, he does “not have anything close to a full picture of what is going on inside.”
Quintenz shared screenshots of his conversions with the Winklevoss twins yesterday on X.
The publicly shared Signal messages call into question numerous possible issues with regulators and the industry billionaires they’re supposed to be monitoring.
For instance, is it acceptable for Quintenz to be in a private Signal chat discussing how he’ll help the Winklevii if he succeeds in his nomination? Are we fully in a kleptocratic republic when billionaires expect favors for endorsements?
Is a16z now at war with the Winklevii? Does Quintenz not get along with other individuals working at the CFTC now?
Read more: Winklevii warn Dems that young voters “won’t forget” war on crypto
Nothing illegal, but not good for anyone
The reasoning behind the public spat is that the Winklevii apparently asked Donald Trump to reconsider the nomination of Quintenz.
Politico reported that “the brothers told the president that he should dump Quintenz, a former commissioner at the agency with close industry ties, saying that he wouldn’t shake up the CFTC enough.”
What appears to have happened instead, is that the Winklevii made a request that, while not ensured, was also not ignored.
Neither the Winklevii telling Donald Trump to suspend Quintenz’s nomination nor the messages shared by Quintenz publicly appear to show anything illegal.
However, the dirty laundry puts Trump in a difficult position: Quintenz works for a16z and founder Marc Andreessen is not only a strong financial supporter of Trump, but also a personal advisor.
The Winklevii, meanwhile, are boisterous, loud financial supporters of Trump with a retail-facing business.
As of writing, both the Winklevii and President Trump haven’t responded to Quintenz’s release of private Signal messages exchanged with the billionaire twins, but this article will be updated if and when they do.