The twin brothers behind the crypto company Gemini Space Station attempted to block a nominee to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a position President Donald Trump had nominated, and now they've angered several in that orbit.
Trump's CFTC nominee, Brian Quintenz, drew the ire of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss after a behind-the-scenes fight became public, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The company founded by the Winklevoss bros fell under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during President Joe Biden's administration after they failed to "register a cryptocurrency asset lending program before offering it to retail investors," Reuters reported earlier this week. They settled the case this week and the company went public last week, then the conversations with Quintenz were exposed.
A private conversation between Quintenz and Tyler revealed the latter's anger over the crackdown on his company. After he and his brother donated millions to Trump's campaign, they were poised to reap the benefits.
“7 years of lawfare trophy hunting. It’s outrageous what they did to us,” Winklevoss wrote in July, screen captures from Quintenz posted on X revealed.
Quintenz was sympathetic but wouldn't weigh in on the complaint. Just a few days later, the twins reached out to Trump, demanding he pause Quintenz's nomination. Indeed, it has been stalled.
“It’s a total temper tantrum,” said Duke University lecturing fellow Lee Reiners, a crypto critic. “This is about wanting revenge and wanting to punish people…It’s not necessarily about policy going forward.”
Gemini isn't doing well in its first few weeks, the report says.
The brothers own "75 million shares of Gemini and control 94.7% of the voting power. After a first-day pop, Gemini shares have slumped more than 20% this week, falling below their IPO price of $28 per share. Although it has a well-established brand, Gemini has lost money in recent quarters and faces competition from larger rivals such as Coinbase Global," said the Journal.