Brian Quintenz accuses Tyler Winklevoss of lobbying Trump to block his CFTC chair nomination

Brian Quintenz, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman, publicly claimed that Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss lobbied Trump against his nomination.

"I’ve never been inclined to release private messages," Quintenz wrote in an X post published Thursday. "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."

The screenshots that Quintenz shared show messages, dated July 24, 2025, from Winklevoss sharing a copy of Gemini's complaint against CFTC filed in June. The complaint accused the CFTC staff of misconduct during an earlier investigation on Gemini.

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.

I… pic.twitter.com/MN75M1XUpT

— Brian Quintenz (@BrianQuintenz) September 10, 2025

While Winklevoss requested Quintenz for his views on the complaint, the CFTC Chair nominee gave a neutral answer. 

"I commit to you to having a fair and reasonable review of the matter and the division and individuals involved to determine if they acted inappropriately," Quintenz said in a message to Winklevoss. "The implications of and solutions to this, however, should be unequivocally left to a fully confirmed chair."

Winklevoss stated in a later message that he was "disappointed and surprised" by the lack of attention Quintenz had invested in Gemini's latest complaint.

"Cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority," Winklevoss said in the message to Quintenz. "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."

The text messages show that the two agreed to "chat" at a later date, but Quintenz did not clarify if that meeting took place.

Quintenz claimed that following this exchange, the Winklevoss twins contacted Trump to pause his confirmation due to concerns unrelated to their earlier discussion.

CFTC v. Gemini

This situation stems back to CFTC's lawsuit against Gemini in June 2022, where the agency alleged the crypto exchange made false or misleading statements during the 2017 self-certification process for a proposed bitcoin futures contract. 

The legal dispute dragged on for years until Gemini settled in January 2025 for a $5 million civil penalty without admitting or denying allegations. However, the conflict continued as Gemini lawyers filed the complaint, as mentioned by Winklevoss, against the CFTC staff in June.

The new allegation from Quintenz may open up a new chapter in his nomination, which has stalled for around seven months. 

When the nomination was announced in February 2025, Quintenz had initially gained support from crypto leaders, including the Winklevoss twins themselves. 

However, the twins shifted their stance by the end of July, saying that Quintenz is a flawed candidate. They cited potential conflicts of interest, given his board seat at prediction markets company Kalshi.

"His policy is not in line with the stated goals and policy of President Trump and the Trump administration," Winklevoss previously said. "They're actually quite antithetical to the ethos of crypto and decentralization." 

Both Winklevoss brothers have yet to respond to Quintenz's allegations. The Block has reached out to the Gemini co-founders for further comment.

Meanwhile, Gemini is set to go public via IPO on Sept. 12. It anticipates that the IPO price per share of its Class A common stock will be between $24 and $26, and seeks to boost its valuation target to $3.1 billion.