President Donald Trump plans to pick Brian Quintenz, the head of policy at Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) crypto division, to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

There has been no official statement, but Bloomberg cited a document sent by the White House to Capitol Hill on Feb. 11. Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham congratulated Quintez on the selection, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett.

“I worked with Brian on important initiatives that he led to success when he was a CFTC Commissioner,” she said before adding:

“He will do the same for crypto and innovation. I look forward to supporting Brian and his leadership at the CFTC.”

SCOOP: Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell me that @realDonaldTrump has chosen @BrianQuintenz, current Head of Policy at @a16z crypto and a former commissioner, to be permanent chair of the @CFTC.

No official statement from the @WhiteHouse yet, but officials…

A Pro-Crypto CFTC?

Quintenz served as a Republican Commissioner at the CFTC during the first Trump administration before joining the crypto venture capital firm in December 2022 when he was named its global head of policy.

He has been a vocal advocate for regulatory changes that would benefit crypto companies and other new technologies and fintech products and has been advising the Trump transition team on crypto policy.

“If confirmed, he’s expected to push for changes that could help the CFTC rise in prominence as the preferred regulator for crypto,” reported Bloomberg.

Other nominations revealed in the same document include Jonathan Gould as the Comptroller of the Currency, and Jonathan McKernan would be tapped as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

If confirmed, McKernan would take over an agency currently going through a major upheaval after Trump effectively neutralized the financial watchdog for a week under Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Crypto Market Reaction

Despite yet more bullish news from the US, crypto markets continue to retreat. Total market capitalization has slumped 3.6% over the past 24 hours, falling to $3.25 trillion at the time of writing.

Bitcoin fell to $95,000 in an intraday low and has failed to recover much from that dip, currently trading at $95,700 and having lost more than 9%, or almost $10,000, since the beginning of the month.

Ethereum is also crumbling, with a 4% slide on the day to fall below $2,600 again. ETH has lost a whopping 23.5% since the beginning of February, a month that has historically been bullish for the asset.

The altcoins were a sea of red again, wiping out any minor gains they had earlier this week, as it seems no amount of positive news from the US can reverse the outgoing tide at the moment.