US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Alabama Tommy Tuberville
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke with President Trump’s nominee to be Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Brian Quintenz. They discussed how both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC share enforcement responsibilities but lack clear jurisdictional boundaries, which has created confusion for innovators and entrepreneurs. While the SEC determines which products fall under its purview, the CFTC has mainly focused on fraud cases involving crypto. Senator Tuberville and Mr. Quintenz agreed that Congress must provide clearer regulatory guidance to foster compliant innovation and protect investors in the digital asset space.
Read Sen. Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.
TUBERVILLE: “Mr. Quintez, thank you for being here today.”
QUINTENZ: “Thank you, Senator.”
TUBERVILLE: “It’s good to see you and your family. Thank you for your willingness to serve. You know, for the last four years, the Biden administration led an attack on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. It was obvious to all of us—I think you know that better than anybody. One of the ways they did this was by attacking leaders in the digital asset industry, like yourself. I’m glad to see that today we live in a new world with the most pro-crypto President and administration that we have seen. I’m eager to see you lead the CFTC as we enter the Golden Age of American innovation and prosperity, and I look forward to supporting your nomination.
When you came by my office prior to this hearing, we discussed how you were debanked because of your leadership and stance on digital assets. For years, my Democrat colleagues said that this was not happening. Obviously, it was. You were even sent a letter informing you that you were being debanked.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask for unanimous consent that the letter dated July 7, 2023, from UBS to Mr. Quintenz be entered into the record. Thank you. Mr. Quintenz, would you like to discuss this letter and the broader Biden administration attack on crypto?”
QUINTENZ: “Thank you very much, Senator. I was very disappointed to receive that. First of all, I’d like to say that the relationship manager and financial advisor mentioned in that letter is a trusted family friend, and I don’t hold this against him at all. I think the only reason why this would happen is because of pressure from the regulators to debank a disfavored industry. You know, these were accounts that were set up for my children to receive $100 worth of stock from their grandparents for Christmas, so I don’t want to also overemphasize the pain that this caused me. But I think it is endemic of what happened during the last administration that I do not think represented American values. And I know from personal experience that there were investments that our firm was trying to make into small teams. And our firm couldn’t even send them a check because they couldn’t open a bank account because they were in the crypto industry. I believe legal businesses deserve access to legal services, and I’m glad that is starting to change.”
TUBERVILLE: “Thank you. That was a pretty tough time, and I understand what you were going through. We’re all curious about the growth of prediction markets. Can you talk about the benefits of the markets and how various businesses and industries can use them for risk management when they otherwise may not have access to appropriate hedging tools?”
QUINTENZ: “Thank you, Senator. When I was at the Commission, I read the law, and the law was clear: the Commodity Exchange Act recognizes that an event posing financial, commercial, or economic consequences is a commodity. I think the reason The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000—which was passed into law by President Clinton—did that was because it recognized that events posed risks to individuals, small businesses, and large firms in the same way that exposure to physical commodity prices does. These risks have been hedged in various capacities for a long time, but traditionally it’s been through large Wall Street firms using very complicated products where there isn’t much transparency about how they operate or a clear market trading mechanism to create clarity around that. With the way this innovation is evolving, there are going to be many new methods for individuals to hedge risks they otherwise couldn’t. The innovation can be targeted to a specific event, so they don’t have to rely on some other generic form of hedging that may not correlate to that risk.”
TUBERVILLE: “Thank you. Can you discuss the regulatory and enforcement clarity between the SEC and the CFTC as it relates to crypto, and what further congressional actions need to be taken?”
QUINTENZ: “Thank you, Senator. From my experience at the CFTC and afterward, the agencies either share jurisdiction over the crypto spot markets or enforce markets through enforcement actions. However, it has really been the SEC’s decision to determine which products or securities they carve out and take into their own jurisdiction. Unfortunately, I believe there has been a lack of clarity offered to the marketplace, innovators, and entrepreneurs about how they could build something that complies with the law or how to build something within the SEC’s jurisdiction that follows the rules. Both agencies have experience in crypto enforcement, but for the CFTC, it has mostly confined itself to fraud cases—standard Ponzi schemes, which aren’t necessarily about people using cryptocurrency but rather about using cryptocurrency as a tool for investments and then stealing people’s money. So, to the extent that new clarity can be added to enable innovators and entrepreneurs to build compliantly, I think that is a critical issue for Congress to consider.”
TUBERVILLE: “Thank you.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.