CFTC’s former commissioner Brian Quintenz joins a16z as head of policy

California-based venture capital firm a16z has made Brian Quintenz its new Head of Policy to lead the Web3-focused company’s bi-partisan policy efforts.

Per a statement released on December 6, a16z has appointed Brian Quintenz, a seasoned financial manager and policy advisor who functioned as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump regimes, as its Head of Policy.

Quintenz joined a16z crypto last September as a senior advisor. The team believes that the Republican Party member has all it takes to lead its bi-partisan policy efforts as the FTX collapse and other unfortunate events in the Web3 industry have triggered increased regulatory scrutiny.

“This is a critical time in Web3’s history as policymakers in DC take a close at the future of crypto. With the new Congress taking office in just a couple of weeks, we couldn’t be more excited to have Brian starting today in his new full-time role to lead our efforts on Capitol Hill and join our growing policy team.”

In other news, a16z recently announced the launch of Helios, an Ethereum light client designed to offer users trustless access to the Ethereum blockchain.