President Trump’s CFTC chair nominee Brian Quintenz alleged that Tyler Winklevoss attempted to derail his confirmation after Quintenz refused to promise favorable treatment regarding the exchange’s past litigation with the commission.

According to private text messages released by Quintenz on Sept. 10, Winklevoss shared Gemini’s 13-page complaint against the CFTC Inspector General in a July 2025 exchange.

He claimed the agency pursued “dubious false statements charges” and “selectively and unfairly weaponized” enforcement against the company.

Winklevoss described seven years of “lawfare trophy hunting” by the commission in the leaked messages.

Transparency claims

Winklevoss questioned why the CFTC sued Gemini rather than “parties that defrauded us of $10mil” or CBOE. He also questioned why the commission continued pursuing Gemini “after it knew its investigation was started based on a false whistleblower.”

Quintenz consistently refused to make specific commitments, stating that “any decision or response to your complaint should be made by and given the full weight of the confirmed chair.”

He committed only to addressing matters “fully and fairly if and when I am confirmed,” while emphasizing the importance of proper process.

Winklevoss then expressed disappointment that Quintenz hadn’t reviewed their complaint despite previous discussions.

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Additionally, the Gemini co-founder stressed that “cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority” and urged Quintenz to align with President Donald Trump’s mandate to end regulatory warfare.

Quintenz explained his approach of waiting for confirmation before forming judgments. He added that he decided “to wait until I can get into the role to get that view as opposed to trying to get it now through current leadership.”

He described having “a very poor experience with that on every important issue or decision so far” when dealing with existing commission staff.

The message release comes two days before Gemini’s planned IPO on Sept. 12.

Quintenz claimed that Winklevoss contacted Trump in an effort to pause his confirmation for undisclosed reasons following their exchange.

He added that he disclosed the discussions with Winklevoss to protect the President from misinformation and demonstrate his commitment to transparency over personal advancement.

Mentioned in this article

Bitcoin’s next major leg higher may depend less on halving lore and more on personnel politics in Washington. In an August 18 market note on X, economist and crypto analyst Alex Krüger argued that the cycle’s duration will be set by the Federal Reserve’s leadership change—specifically, who President Trump nominates to replace Jerome Powell—rather than by any fixed four-year pattern. “I have a high degree of confidence this cycle is not over because I am expecting changes in the Fed to bring on considerably more dovish monetary policy, which is not priced in at the moment; this would start to get priced in once Trump announces his nominee to replace Powell,” Krüger wrote.

Bitcoin Bull Run Depends On New Fed Chair

Krüger dismissed worries that a pullback from record highs marks the top, calling it “remarkable how every time you get a correction from new highs so many people start to fret about the cycle top. Over and over again.” He reiterated his longstanding critique of the halving-cycle orthodoxy: “The concept of a 4 year cycle in 2025 is misplaced; [it] died two cycles ago, and 2021 was a coincidence, as it was macro driven.” In his view, the last cycle ended because the Fed turned “ultra-hawkish in January 2022,” not because of any endogenous Bitcoin dynamic.

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The nomination clock is visible. Powell’s current four-year term as chair ends on May 15, 2026, and reporting over the past two weeks indicates the White House has narrowed a shortlist to “three or four” names, with an announcement potentially coming sooner than expected. Candidates floated in mainstream coverage include former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and NEC Director Kevin Hassett among others, underscoring the market’s focus on how dovish—or not—the next chair might be.

In the nearer term, the policy calendar still drives the tape. Powell’s final Jackson Hole appearance, scheduled during the Aug. 21–23 symposium, is widely framed as a tone-setting moment before the September FOMC. Consensus coverage flags the risk that Powell leans hawkish to preserve optionality, even as rates markets handicap a cut next month; Krüger leans “slightly bearish into it as a hawkish speech (to reduce the odds of a September cut) makes sense, for the Fed to retain optionality and not let the market push itself into a corner.”

Technically, Bitcoin has cooled after printing fresh all-time highs in mid-July and again last week. Traders are watching the previous $112,000 high as initial downside cushion, with the psychologically critical $100,000 level, the overhead reference remains the $122,000–$124,000 zone of recent peaks. Krüger also highlights that “BTC is having a very hard time going up sans leverage without triggers,” a point echoed by derivatives signals showing compressed risk appetite.

Related Reading

Derivatives and volatility gauges corroborate the “low-vol, slow ascent” regime he describes. Implied volatility on BTC options (DVOL/BVIV) has sat near two-year lows, and open interest on institutional venues remains off July highs, signaling a more measured stance from levered players into Jackson Hole. Krüger also observed that futures basis had eased alongside the pullback—a classic sign of froth leaking out—while options markets show a renewed bid for downside protection on dips.

The macro through-line is straightforward: if the Fed chair nomination tilts dovish, markets will begin discounting a looser stance well before the first policy move, extending the cycle; if the candidate (and subsequent guidance) skews restrictive, the liquidity impulse that powered Bitcoin’s post-ETF advance will fade at the margin.

For now, the immediate catalysts are stacked—Powell at Jackson Hole, followed by PCE, NFP, CPI and PPI into September’s FOMC—while price trades between well-defined levels with volatility suppressed. As Krüger put it, bull markets “don’t end because of valuations or over-extension; the end needs a major trigger.” In 2025, that trigger may well be a name.

At press time, BTC traded at $115,683.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

X’s Grok chatbot declined to select a winner for a $1,000 Ethereum giveaway organized by crypto influencer Crypto Rover, citing prior allegations of pump-and-dump activity detailed by on-chain investigator ZachXBT.

In replies to users participating in the weekend contest, Grok stated it was abstaining from choosing a winner due to “substantiated reports” implicating Rover in schemes that could compromise community safety.

The messages are now unavailable but circulated in screenshots showing Grok referencing ZachXBT’s findings and calling for caution. The interaction stemmed from a routine promotional giveaway in which Rover, who posts under @rovercrc and has over 1 million followers, invited users to like, repost, and follow his account for a chance to win the prize.

As ZachXBT reported, the allegations center on a project Rover was contracted to promote in May 2023. The deal included a $10,000 payment, a percentage of the project’s token supply.

According to the investigation, Rover made no promotional posts as agreed and later claimed he would delay content until “better market conditions,” while threatening legal action against the project’s team for attempting to call him out.

ZachXBT linked Rover’s wallet activity to subsequent token sales, generating roughly 40 ETH in profits. The funds were routed to a known Bybit deposit address previously associated with Rover.

The probe also identified 10 fresh wallets tied to the same promotional period that accumulated 9 percent of the token’s supply shortly before Rover posted about the asset. The project team behind the meme coin ceased communications shortly after, with no further updates beyond May 2023. In previous posts, Rover reportedly stated he could “pump projects from half a million to ten million easy,” a remark ZachXBT highlighted as part of a broader pattern of manipulative behavior.

Rover did not publicly address Grok’s specific decision and has continued to tag Grok for his next giveaway.

Not all of Grok’s responses refused to engage with Crypto Rover. Many replies to Crypto Rover and his followers affirmed that the bot would select a winner for the giveaway. However, per the latest posts, none was chosen by the bot.

Grok, developed by xAI, has previously drawn scrutiny for its erratic output, including unverified claims and inflammatory responses, though its creators position it as a “maximally truth-seeking” assistant.

ZachXBT’s forensic investigations have become a fixture in crypto accountability circles, with previous work cited in law enforcement actions and asset recoveries totaling over US $210 million, per a 2024 Wired profile.

Mentioned in this article

A trader and analyst who accurately predicted the Bitcoin (BTC) bottom in 2022 says Ethereum (ETH) may suddenly emerge as a top market performer.

In a new video, the trader pseudonymously known as DonAlt tells the 66,300 subscribers of the TechnicalRoundup YouTube channel that ETH is his top pick in the crypto market, other than Bitcoin.

“I like the chances of ETH. I think people are underestimating ETH just because it’s had bad price action, the same way people were [trash] talking Solana when it had bad price action, not because the coin was bad, just because of bad price action, like people were just joking about Solana all the time when it was trading below two digits, and then it went from nothing basically to $250. I think ETH is in a somewhat similar situation, but obviously Solana is taking a little bit of a bid away from from ETH.”

He also says that ETH against Bitcoin (ETH/BTC) is holding key historic support levels on the weekly chart, indicating the top altcoin by market cap still has a good chance of a breakout.

“When you look at the price history of ETH, it’s still trading multiples above where it traded against Bitcoin in 2015. It’s still trading multiples above where it was trading in 2017. It did retrace the 2020 move, which is quite a big deal. But I generally think people are just like, Oh yeah, look at that. And then they ignore all the left side… [ETH/BTC is] not the worst. It’s obviously not great. But this is not the worst. If I had to pick one asset other than Bitcoin in crypto for the long term, it would still be ETH for me.”

ETH/BTC is trading for 0.01914 BTC ($1,856) at time of writing, up nearly 2% in the last 24 hours.

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GlassNode, on-chain data analytics firm, has identified interesting changes in retail investors’ preferences and has put XRP in the spotlight as the focus of speculative interest. Findings from GlassNode’s newly published report entitled “Rippling Away” reveal that while Bitcoin market measures are approaching a bear zone, XRP is seeing a pronounced influx of momentum and user activity.

According to a GlassNode report, Bitcoin consolidates the price range from $76,000 to $87,000. Indicators such as realized profit/loss ratios indicate “signs of short-term seller fatigue still persistent bullish momentum updates.”

Furthermore, the long-term on-chain “death cross” suggests that current weaknesses in the market could last for some time. “The supply of losses remains rising at 4.7m BTC,” the report said, highlighting the depth of investor stress. These conditions draw the picture, as GlassNode points out, “deepen the bearish terms” for major cryptocurrencies.

XRP flocks to retail

In contrast to Bitcoin’s attention signal, GlassNode refers to XRP as the proxy for advanced retail speculation in this cycle. The report emphasizes: “In particular, during this cycle, Ripple (XRP) is a trade-priority asset among retail investors, and studying its behavior could serve as a proxy to measure retail speculative demand.”

Related readings

After the low cycle in 2022, XRP’s daily active addresses are jumping quarterly on average “+490%,” while Bitcoin is only up 10%. This sharp divergence underlines the retail community’s enthusiasm for XRP. GlassNode believes it shows a broader speculative appetite in the market.

The enthusiasm for XRP was translated into a nearly collision of caps that were realized. This ranged from $30.1 billion to $64.2 billion during the rally between December 2024 and early 2025. GlassNode estimates that around $3 billion of this new capital has come in the last six months, referring to a new wave of market participants.

Along with a short surge in capital flows, there was a rapid concentration of wealth in new investors,” the report explains. But Glassnode also warns.

Related readings

Glassnode warns that these new investors are vulnerable to negative side volatility, particularly as the cost base of XRP becomes more heavier. Therefore, despite initial excitement, the report focuses on the cooling of speculative interest since late February 2025.

XRP’s GlassNode realised loss/profit ratio has been steadily decreasing since January 2025, suggesting profitability and “loss of confidence.” This may reflect a more vulnerable market structure, with large swaths of relatively new holders facing paper losses.

“The XRP market shows signs of a top-heavy structure, with many investors being captured on a relatively high cost basis,” the report adds. This vulnerability in XRP positioning could mean broader attention for the retail-driven Altcoin market.

Overall, GlassNode’s latest research highlights the dichotomy of the digital assets situation today. Bitcoin’s drift fell below $80,000, which increased losses for long-term holders, but the rise in XRP meteors and subsequent slowdown portrays a market driven by short-term retail enthusiasm that could be nearing saturation.

“For more speculative assets such as XRP, demand may already be at its peak,” the report concludes.

At the time of press, the XRP traded for $2.00.

Featured images created with dall.e, charts on tradingview.com