According to The Block, Brian Quintenz, the nominee selected by Trump for the position of Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated during a Senate hearing that if the CFTC gains more cryptocurrency regulatory authority, it will require additional funding support. Several senators agree with this, with Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar emphasizing that the CFTC needs to have sufficient personnel and resources to address emerging challenges.
Quintenz previously served as the Global Policy Director of a16z Crypto Fund and was a member of the CFTC from 2017 to 2021. If the nomination is approved, he will become the only current member of the CFTC, while the other four members have recently resigned or announced plans to resign. The current US Congress is considering a bill that may expand the regulatory authority of the CFTC over digital assets, and the agency currently has less than a thousand employees, far below the SEC's 4000 staff size.
