Crypto Advocate Brian Quintenz Will Step Down From CFTC Role by October

Commissioner Brian Quintenz, who sponsored the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) and advocated for self regulation in the crypto industry, will leave his post by late October.

Quintenz’s statutory five-year term ends this month. The longtime crypto advocate will not seek renomination and plans to stay on until his successor is appointed, he announced Tuesday in a statement. The departure was first reported by Bloomberg.

The commissioner’s departure comes after a period of technological adaptation at the U.S. government's commodity and futures regulator including the launch of the first bitcoin futures contracts, the evolution of LabCFTC and, more recently, clarification of what actual delivery means in crypto. 

It was a period that ran parallel to the resurgence of the TAC.

One month after his confirmation in August 2017, Quintenez became sponsor of the CFTC’s mostly dormant Technology Advisory Committee that had, in his opinion, largely failed to keep pace with technological change in part by meeting just twice in the previous three years.

“Crucial and fascinating questions need to be explored and answered,” he said at the time about many tech initiatives including blockchain. “Distributed ledger technology is on the verge of creating a sea change in contract design, reporting and settlement.”

The Quintenz-sponsored TAC proceeded to form DLT and virtual currency subcommittees and began meeting regularly to consider stablecoins, virtual currencies, DLT market infrastructure, and crypto custody.

“I’ve been particularly honored to sponsor the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee, where we’ve had the opportunity to explore the extraordinary technological renaissance transforming our financial markets,” Quintenz said in a statement.

Quintenz also advocated for self-regulation in the crypto industry.

His term ends a few months before that of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Hester Peirce. Like Quintenz, Peirce has advocated for the crypto space.