The crypto community is so heavily influenced by US regulation that CFTC nominees are being "forced to complain publicly."

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A dispute over regulatory enforcement has escalated into a direct confrontation between the cryptocurrency community and U.S. regulatory personnel appointments.

On Wednesday, September 10, Brian Quintenz, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman nominee selected by President Trump, publicly accused Gemini cryptocurrency exchange founders the Winklevoss twins of interfering with his nomination confirmation process.

That afternoon, Quintenz posted multiple tweets on the social platform X, claiming that the Winklevoss twins had contacted Trump to ask for his CFTC chair nomination to be put on hold. He disclosed a screenshot of a conversation from July this year between himself and the twins on the encrypted messaging platform Signal as evidence of his allegation.

The conversation shows Tyler Winklevoss sharing with Quintenz a complaint letter addressed to the CFTC Inspector General criticizing the agency’s enforcement unit’s actions during its 2022 lawsuit against Gemini. When the Winklevoss twins asked Quintenz to take a stance on their allegations, he refused to make a clear statement.

Quintenz wrote in his tweets: “To my knowledge, after this conversation, they contacted the President and asked for my confirmation process to be suspended.” He stated that although the Winklevoss twins raised other concerns with Trump, the President “may have been misled.”

In the conversation, Tyler Winklevoss expressed disappointment and surprise that Quintenz was unaware of the complaint and said he was happy to bring the matter directly to the President.

Quintenz was nominated by Trump for CFTC chairman in February of this year. This controversy stems from the CFTC’s enforcement lawsuit against Gemini in 2022, accusing the exchange of making false or misleading statements regarding bitcoin futures contracts. The case was ultimately settled, with Gemini fined $5 million.

The Winklevoss twins have long expressed dissatisfaction with this fine. Notably, Gemini plans to hold its IPO on Thursday.

Major Shakeup in CFTC Enforcement Division

According to the Financial Times, citing informed sources, the CFTC has in recent months dismissed, demoted, or forced out multiple enforcement division staff, including several officials responsible for the Gemini case.

Reportedly, among the dismissed senior staff are Enforcement Division Deputy Directors Manal Sultan and Robert Howell, as well as Chief Trial Lawyers Alejandra de Urioste and Brent Tomer. These officials had led the 2022 enforcement action against Gemini.

Sources reveal that some employees who received 60-day layoff notices in July will officially leave in the coming weeks, while others have been reassigned to non-enforcement roles.

The CFTC responded by saying the layoffs are part of a restructuring effort aimed at reducing unnecessary reporting layers and freeing up headcount for new departments. The agency did not comment on specific individuals or cases.

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