Leading Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has recruited former CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz as an adviser on cryptocurrencies.
We’re excited to announce @BrianQuintenz, a former Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner, is joining as an advisory partner on our crypto team as part of our effort to ensure we have a world-class support system in place for policy and regulatory matters. https://t.co/SSxw17YZAr
— a16z (@a16z) September 9, 2021
“As we have learned from the infrastructure bill, it is more important than ever for the crypto community to maintain a productive dialogue with regulators and policymakers. […] The CFTC plays a critically important role as the federal regulator with jurisdiction over digital assets and other commodities, […] and Brian Quintenz has long stood out as an innovative thinker in the field of cryptocurrencies and DeFi,” the statement said.
On August 19, Quintenz announced his departure from the CFTC, promising to maintain a positive stance toward the cryptocurrency industry. At a16z he will join the existing advisers — former head of the SEC’s corporate finance division, Bill Hinman, and former U.S. Treasury official Brent McIntosh.
Earlier Hinman testified in the SEC’s case against Ripple. He said that he had warned the company about the risk of XRP being deemed a security.
On Thursday, September 9, another CFTC commissioner — Dan Berkovitz — announced his intention to leave the agency on October 15. In the summer, the official stated about potential DeFi platforms’ derivatives violations under U.S. law.
Back in June, Andreessen Horowitz launched the third cryptocurrency fund with $2.2 billion in assets.
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