Kalshi director and CFTC nominee advocates for prediction markets
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brian Quintez, was questioned about his links to trading platform Kalshi in front of a Senate committee on 10 June.
During the hearing held by the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Quintez was asked whether it might pose a conflict of interest while serving as a commissioner on the commodities regulator.
Quintez, who already served on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2017 to 2021, during Trump’s first term, is a director on Kalshi’s board and currently holds stock in the prediction platform.
Although Quintez has pledged to divest all stock relating to Kalshi if he is nominated, US lawmakers are wary of Quintez’s involvement in the industries that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversees.
“Even if you recuse yourself there will remain a potential appearance of a conflict,” Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said during the hearing.
In addition to having links to prediction platforms, Quintez works with the crypto arm of the capital market company Andreesen Horowitz, also known as a16z.
During the hearing, Quintez said in his opening statement that he was grateful for the nomination and believes prediction platforms and crypto markets could contribute to the US’ evolving economy.
“This could prove to be the most exciting, and the most important, time in the agency’s history – as Congress considers new jurisdiction for the agency over the spot crypto commodity markets, with the evolution and proliferation of new hedging tools such as event contracts, and with the critical national security importance that our derivatives markets play in our economic security while President Trump resets the global economic order and ends the United States’ dependence on foreign economic adversaries,” Quintez said.
If the committee approves Quintez’s nomination, it will go to a vote in the full Senate.
Dig deeper
