The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will not have new leadership installed anytime soon, as Brian Quintenz’s nomination to the post was put on pause by the Trump administration Monday.
Quintenz was supposed to face a Senate committee’s confirmation vote Monday evening, after a prior hearing had been canceled earlier this month. The CFTC currently has regulatory oversight of sports prediction markets, and Quintenz’s appointment would have a significant impact on the futures of businesses such as Kalshi and Polymarket, which are potential competitors to traditional sportsbooks and adversaries to tribes.
Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, told Bloomberg on Monday that the White House asked him to delay Quintenz’ nomination process. Boozman said he had little clarity on why the White House put in the call.
A White House official wrote in an email to Sportico that Quintenz is “still President [Donald] Trump’s nominee” to lead the CFTC. The official did not respond to follow-up questions about why the process has stalled. There was no public announcement of the Quintenz vote being rescheduled.
The CFTC has operated under an interim chair, Caroline Pham, since January—and Pham said she plans to return to the private sector once a permanent replacement is set. All four non-chair CFTC commissioners have either left or announced that they plan to depart by the time a permanent chair is approved. Reuters reported on July 17 that the CFTC had fired two dozen workers from its enforcement, market oversight, administration and data divisions.
The agency’s power vacuum coincides with questions over how the agency should manage the prediction market platforms clashing with the sports betting industry. Critics argue these platforms are a form of gambling that should be state-regulated rather than under the CFTC’s watch.
Trump’s pick of Quintenz was popular with prediction market firms and their associates. During his committee hearing on June 11, he said sports prediction markets are part of the CFTC’s purview under the Commodity Exchange Act. Whether the CFTC’s authority usurps state regulations and tribal rights is at the heart of ongoing litigation.
Quintenz is a board member at Kalshi, one of the most prominent prediction market companies. His ties to that prediction market platform have led to conflict-of-interest accusations, even as he has pledged to step down from Kalshi’s board if confirmed and recuse himself from CFTC matters involving the company.
Last Friday, the Closing Line newsletter reported that a Quintenz associate sent emails to current CFTC brass seeming to request non-public information about Kalshi’s prediction market competitors.
Additionally, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is a Kalshi advisor.
“There’s no way to ignore the direct ties there,” California Nations Indian Gaming Association chairman James Siva told Sportico in an interview last month.
That said, the current attitude at the thin CFTC has been one of permissiveness toward prediction market platforms being offered in all 50 states, a reversal of policy during Joe Biden’s presidency. Until a new chair is approved, it is unlikely the CFTC under Pham will lead a crackdown against Kalshi and its U.S. competitors, which could soon include Polymarket.
Neither the CFTC nor Kalshi responded to requests for comment.
Two weeks ago, tribal groups, the American Gaming Association, casino lobbyists and the National Council on Problem Gambling criticized Quintenz in a pre-vote letter to the Senate Agriculture Committee. They believe prediction markets are being used as a loophole to evade state gambling regulations.
“We respectfully request that the Committee require the nominee to fully address the concerns raised at the hearing and commit to upholding and enforcing applicable CFTC regulations before moving forward with his nomination,” the letter said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the highest-ranking Democrat on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, told Bloomberg that resistance from her party was not behind Quintenz’s nomination progress being halted. She said she was surprised Monday’s committee vote on his candidacy didn’t happen.
Quintenz was a CFTC commissioner from 2017 until 2021, appointed during Trump’s first stint in the White House. He publicly supported sports prediction markets then, too, but did not have the majority backing of his agency colleagues.
Since his commissioner term, Quintenz has worked as head of policy, crypto at Andreessen Horowitz; as an advisory council member at Crypto.com; and board member at Kalshi, according to his LinkedIn profile.
