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Trump’s CFTC pick Quintenz discloses crypto links, .4M assets

US President Donald Trump’s pick to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has disclosed millions of dollars worth of assets, along with his various ties to crypto-related organizations.

In paperwork released by the US Office of Government Ethics on May 25, Brian Quintenz disclosed his key positions in crypto and market firms that would directly relate to the CFTC’s regulatory priorities and disclosed assets worth at least $3.4 million, according to a May 27 Bloomberg report. 

Quintenz was a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021 and is currently the global head of crypto policy at Andreessen Horowitz, a position he said he will step down from if the Senate confirms him as CFTC chair. 

He holds an interest in three AH Capital Management investment funds, CNK Fund III, CNK Seed 1 Fund, and CNK IV Fund, plus capital commitments to related general partners. 

He is also a board member of the prediction markets platform Kalshi and owns stock and unvested stock options in the firm, along with stock and vested stock options in the finance and lending brokerage Next Level Derivatives.

His portfolio intersects directly with two major CFTC policy areas, crypto asset regulation and prediction markets. Kalashi settled a major legal battle with the CFTC over election betting earlier this month. 

Quintenz outlined the steps he will take to avoid conflicts of interest if confirmed as CFTC chairman in an agreement letter to John Einstman, the CFTC’s Designated Agency Ethics Official, dated May 21. 

“I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter,” he stated. 

Trump’s CFTC pick Quintenz discloses crypto links, $3.4M assets
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An excerpt of Brian Quintenz’s letter. Source: US Office of Government Ethics

He added that he will resign from all positions and divest conflicting assets within 90 days of confirmation. This includes recusing himself from a16z-related matters for two years, recusing from Kalashi matters for one year, and forfeiting unvested stock options at multiple companies. 

Related: Crypto perp futures coming ‘very soon,’ says CFTC’s Mersinger

Quintenz also said he would comply with standard conflict of interest laws and obtain ethics briefings, but will retain unpaid trustee positions for two family trusts. 

Trump nominated Quintenz to head the financial regulator in February and is currently awaiting Senate confirmation. 

CFTC commissioner exodus continues

The CFTC has seen an exodus of commissioners recently amid concern over the Trump administration’s crypto embrace, with potentially all four remaining positions being up for grabs this year.

On May 21, Democrat Commissioner Kristin Johnson announced that she plans to depart the agency later this year.

Meanwhile, Commissioners Summer Mersinger and Christy Goldsmith Romero previously said they would respectively step down on May 30 and May 31.

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SEC silent on Canary Litecoin ETF amid gov shutdown

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SEC silent on Canary Litecoin ETF amid gov shutdown

SEC silent on Canary Litecoin ETF amid gov shutdown

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has seemingly missed its decision deadline for the Canary Litecoin ETF, adding to uncertainty amid a government shutdown and new generic listing standards.

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European Central Bank picks tech partners for digital euro

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European Central Bank picks tech partners for digital euro

European Central Bank picks tech partners for digital euro

The ECB said it had reached agreements with seven entities not yet involving “any payment” responsible for components of the digital euro, potentially launching in 2029.

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Michelle Mone says she won’t step down as Tory peer – and accuses chancellor of ‘endangering’ her

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Michelle Mone says she won't step down as Tory peer - and accuses chancellor of 'endangering' her

Baroness Michelle Mone says she will defy calls for her to step down from the House of Lords after PPE Medpro, a company founded by her husband, was ordered to repay £122m to the government for providing faulty PPE at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The peer has faced calls to stand down from MPs across the political spectrum, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who earlier this week agreed with Baroness Mone’s contention that the government was pursuing a “vendetta” in trying to recover improper Covid funding.

“Too right we are,” she said in comments at the Labour Party conference.

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Baroness Mone ‘should resign’

In an extraordinary letter to the prime minister, Baroness Mone has accused Ms Reeves of endangering her and her family with her comments, citing the murders of Jo Cox and David Amess as evidence of the risks facing parliamentarians.

She also alleged ministerial interference in the civil and ongoing criminal investigations of PPE Medpro, and has called for an investigation into whether ministers have “improperly influenced” the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Crime Agency.

In the letter, sent from the private office of Baroness Mone OBE and seen by Sky News, she addresses the prime minister directly, writing in a personal capacity “first as a wife, second as a mother, and lastly as a Baroness.”

More on Michelle Mone

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£122m bill that may never be paid

Referring to Ms Reeves’ comments, she writes: “The chancellor’s deliberate use of the term “vendetta”, a word connoting vengeance, feud and blood feud, is incendiary and has directly increased the risks to my personal safety…. My family and I now live with a heightened and genuine fear of appearing in public.”

She goes on to accuse Reeves and health secretary Wes Streeting of “falsehoods” in demanding that she hand back £122m, pointing out that she was never a director of PPE Medpro and “never received a penny from it personally.”

While the company was founded by her husband Doug Barrowman, a High Court judgement this week confirmed that Baroness Mone introduced it to the government’s VIP fast lane for PPE providers, and lobbied on its behalf in negotiations.

She has previously admitted that £29m of profit from the PPE contract was passed to a family trust of which she and her children are beneficiaries.

The peer has also accused the Prime Minister of “a total lie” when “you stated in Parliament that my children had received £29m into their bank accounts.”

Baroness Mone said that following these comments, she had received threatening and abusive communications, and cited the death of TV presenter Caroline Flack, who took her own life, as showing “the fatal consequences of personalised public vilification”.

“Your cabinet members, by repeating this knowingly false claim, are inciting hostility and inflaming public hatred against me.”

Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman. Pic: PA
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Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman. Pic: PA

She has also accused the home secretary of influencing the NCA and Director of Public Prosecutions in unspecified meetings to discuss “high-profile cases”.

“That political influence is being brought to bear is, therefore, undeniable,” she said.

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On Wednesday, PPE Medpro was ordered to repay £122m paid for 25 million surgical gowns that failed to meet sterility standards in breach of its contract with the Department of Health and Social Care.

PPE Medpro was put into administration the day before the judgment, with assets of just £666,000.

Asked if Baroness Mone would step down from the Lords, a spokesman said: “Those calling for Baroness Mone’s resignation from the House of Lords would be well advised to read the open letter sent this morning to the prime minister, which sets out how this has now become a personal attack and vendetta, politically motivated with loss of all balance and objectivity.”

Sky News has asked Number 10 and the Treasury for a response to the allegations made by Baroness Mone.

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