Brian Quintez, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, published a text exchange he had with Tyler Winklevoss in his first public statement since his confirmation process appeared to stall over the summer at the White House’s direction, saying he believed that Trump “might have been misled.”

Quintenz shared a series of text messages he said he’d exchanged with Tyler Winklevoss, the co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Gemini — which is set to go public this week — and Winklevoss Capital. Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler’s twin brother and co-founder, may have also been in the group chat, which was titled “tw-cw-bq” but did not send any messages in the screenshots shared by Quintenz. In the chat, dated July 24, Tyler Winklevoss asked Quintenz if he’d seen a post on X from June 17 where Tyler announced Gemini had filed a complaint with the CFTC’s inspector general about Division of Enforcement attorneys who had pursued charges against Gemini.

“I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise,” Quintenz said in his posts, representing a highly unusual move for a nominee in the midst of a federal confirmation process. “It’s my understanding that after this exchange they contacted the president and asked that my confirmation be paused for reasons other than what is reflected in these texts.”

Before the Senate left Washington for its August break, Quintenz’s nomination was set for what was thought to be an easy procedural step in the Senate Agriculture Committee to advance it to the floor for his final confirmation vote. But the White House halted that vote for reasons it didn’t make clear at the time, though Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss had been waging a rhetorical campaign to stop his confirmation.

Winklevoss told CoinDesk in an interview in July that he’d been making the case that Quintenz was a bad choice because of the former commissioner’s wish to increase the CFTC budget to oversee the crypto industry, his past views on the legal liability for crypto developers and what Winklevoss characterized as Quintenz’s improper attempts to influence the CFTC on behalf of prediction market firm Kalshi.

Read more: Gemini’s Tyler Winklevoss Says Trump CFTC Pick Quintenz Has ‘Disqualifying’ Views

Quintenz’s post on Wednesday suggested that, in his view, Winklevoss was upset that Quintenz did not join in criticism of CFTC’s enforcement efforts after the agency pursued charges against Gemini that were settled in January.

“I know we had spoken about this in the winter where I recalled my original extreme disappointment at [the Enforcement Division] for pursuing this so aggressively,” a text from Quintenz said. “I commit to you to having a fair and reasonable review of the matter and the division and individuals involved to determine if they acted inappropriately.”

He went on to say that a “fully confirmed chair” should be the person to handle the matter, but that if someone currently employed by the CFTC was “communicating with” the Winklevosses, he would have to “give that careful thought.”

Winklevoss asked if Quintenz was saying that Gemini should have waited to file their complaint until after the Senate confirmed the former commissioner, to which Quintenz replied that “any decision or response to your complaint should be made by and given the full weight of the confirmed chair.”

The crypto executive said they had spoken about the CFTC’s enforcement effort against Gemini after Quintenz asked for the Winklevoss brothers’ endorsement in December.

“Cultural reform, which includes rectifying what happened to us, should be the highest priority,” Winklevoss said. “I’d like to understand your thoughts on this and how you plan to align with President Trump and the administration’s mandate to end the lawfare and make amends for it.”

He added that he would “be happy to raise the issue with the president himself” if Quintenz thought he was being undermined by current CFTC employees.

Quintenz, Winklevoss and a spokesperson for Gemini did not immediately return requests for comment. CoinDesk could not independently verify the texts’ authenticity.

In July, a coalition that represented the vast majority of the crypto industry came out to press President Donald Trump to move forward to get Quintenz confirmed, calling him the “right person at the right time” to run the CFTC. Though the Senate has been back from break for a while and has returned to its confirmation work for many of Trump’s appointees, the committee hasn’t yet scheduled a follow-up vote for Quintenz

Meanwhile, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins has been pressing forward on an industry-friendly “Project Crypto” initiative while the temporary chief at the CFTC, Acting Chairman Caroline Pham has been standing in at the sister agency with a similar “crypto sprint.” The two of them have made recent joint moves to clear the regulatory path for digital assets.

If you’re a cash-strapped senior, you may find it a little easier to manage your taxes next spring thanks to the “big, beautiful bill” that became law last month. Contrary to what some sources have said, it’s not because the law eliminated Social Security benefit taxes. Those remain exactly the same as when the government first created them in the 1980s.

Instead, the law adds a new senior tax deduction worth up to $6,000 for a single adult or $12,000 for a married couple. This can significantly reduce your taxable income — and your tax bill — for the year. But before you get too excited, you’ll need to qualify for the savings by meeting both of the qualifications below.

1. You’re at least 65 or older

The new senior deduction, like the previous senior tax deduction, is only available to adults 65 and older. If you’re younger than this at the end of the year, you will not qualify for the deduction in 2025, even if you’re claiming Social Security benefits. On the plus side, you may be eligible for the deduction even if you haven’t signed up for Social Security yet.

2. You aren’t a high earner

This tax deduction has income phaseouts that limit the savings available to high earners. If you’re a single adult with an annual income of $75,000 or less in 2025 you’ll qualify for the full $6,000 credit. The same goes for married couples with an annual income of $150,000 or less.

After this, the credit is subject to a 6% phaseout. So it drops by $60 for every $1,000 your income exceeds the above threshold for your marital status. For example, a single adult earning $76,000 would only qualify for a $5,940 deduction instead of the full $6,000 deduction.

If your income exceeds $150,000 for a single adult or $250,000 for a married couple, you will not be eligible for any new deduction under the law for the 2025 tax year. However, you will still qualify for the standard deduction and the existing senior tax deduction of $2,000 ($1,600 each for a married couple).

How much will the new deduction save you?

A tax deduction is basically income the government doesn’t tax you on. So if your income was $60,000 this year and you qualify for a $12,000 tax deduction, you’ll only pay taxes on the remaining $48,000.

The exact dollar amount you’ll save depends on several factors, including your annual income and tax filing status. A Council of Economic Advisors report estimates that the average senior who qualifies for the new tax deduction will see an increase of $670 in after-tax income. But it’s possible that you may save slightly more or less than this.

If you want a better idea of how much money you’ll save under this new law, talk with an accountant who can give you advice on your specific situation. Also, keep in mind that if you end up earning more than expected during the rest of 2025 or withdrawing more from your tax-deferred retirement accounts, like your 401(k), than you planned, this could increase your tax liability for the year.

You should also bear in mind that, according to the law, the new senior deduction will only remain in effect through tax year 2028. After that, it’s slated to go away unless the government chooses to extend it or make it permanent. So this is something to pay attention to if you don’t want to be caught off guard in future tax years.

Crypto markets extended gains on Wednesday as traders digested a mix of political tailwinds, dovish Fed expectations, and ongoing ETF inflows into ether (ETH).

Altcoins added to their rally during late Tuesday U.S. afternoon hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the Federal Reserve should consider a 50 basis point rate cut at its upcoming September meeting.

Ether extended a strong week with gains of nearly 30%, nearing fresh highs that has historically preceded rotations and market frenzy in altcoins and microcap tokens. ETFs tied to the token registered $520 million in positive flows on Tuesday, data shows, on track to reach over $2 billion in weekly flows for the first time.

Bitcoin

remained steady just under $120,000. Solana’s SOL surged 12% to $198, BNB Chain’s BNB (BNB) added 5% to $837, and XRP gained 4% to $3.25. Dogecoin and Cardano rose over 8%, continuing a tendency of following ETH price action.

Traders say recent comments from U.S. President Donald Trump fueled sentiment after ordering regulators to “look into” the possibility of adding crypto — alongside private equity — to U.S. 401(k) retirement plans.

While this prospect is currently exploratory, the possibility of retirement accounts gaining direct exposure to crypto would represent a significant structural shift in demand.

“Ethereum has been the standout, with mainstream equity analysts now joining the FOMO trade,” said Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus, in a Telegram message. “BTC implied volatility remains near all-time lows while ETH’s short-dated vol has jumped materially — that’s a sign traders see more upside and near-term action in ETH.”

Implied volatility (IV) is the market’s forecast of how much a crypto’s price might move in the future, based on options prices. If IV is low, traders aren’t expecting big swings and if it’s high, they’re bracing for bigger moves.

Short-dated volatility refers to the implied volatility of options that expire soon, typically within days or weeks. This reflects expectations for near-term price action rather than the long-term outlook.

In this case, BTC’s IV is near record lows, indicating that traders expect its price to remain relatively stable. ETH’s short-dated volatility is jumping, which suggests that traders expect larger near-term price swings — and probably more upside — in ETH compared to BTC.

Rate-cut bets added fuel to the move. Markets now price a high likelihood of the Federal Reserve lowering rates before year-end, easing macro headwinds for risk assets.

“Ethereum’s breakout past $4,600 reflects growing confidence in its institutional adoption,” said Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, told CoinDesk.

“Bitcoin holding near $119,000 shows resilient demand. A dovish Fed pivot could further accelerate ETH’s outperformance, especially with ETF speculation and scaling upgrades ahead,” Ruck added.

Meanwhile, FxPro’s Alex Kuptsikevich noted the rally is unusual in that altcoin strength appears to be pulling BTC higher, not the other way around.

“Bitcoin is testing historical highs above $122,000 with the next major target at $135,000-$138,000. Ethereum is now in striking distance of its all-time high above $4,800,” he said.

President Trump on several occasions during his recent campaign vowed to end taxes on Social Security benefits. Legislation currently working its way through Congress (i.e., the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act) is built around his policy priorities, but it stops short of fulfilling that specific promise.

Nevertheless, there is good news for retirees on Social Security. The version of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that recently passed the Senate includes provisions that would increase after-tax income for millions of seniors. Read on to learn more.

President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill includes new deductions for seniors

The OBBB passed the House of Representatives by a single vote on May 22, and an amended version slipped through the Senate by an equally narrow margin on July 1. The bill now returns the House, where lawmakers can either approve it or make changes that would require another Senate vote.

Importantly, while budget reconciliation bills are not permitted to change Social Security, both versions of the OBBB include deductions that would help millions of seniors on Social Security. The recently passed Senate bill includes the following:

• Single seniors (aged 65 and older) can deduct $6,000 from taxable income, and married seniors filing jointly can deduct $12,000 as a couple.
• The full $6,000 per-person deduction is available to single filers with income up to $75,000 and joint filers with income up to $150,000. Beyond those levels, deductions are phased out.

Importantly, the new senior deductions would be additive with other tax breaks, including the standard deduction and existing senior deductions, as detailed below:

• Under current law, the standard deduction is $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for joint filers. The Senate bill raises the standard deduction to $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for joint filers.
• Under current law, seniors get an additional standard deduction of $2,000 for single filers and $3,200 for joint filers. The Senate bill leaves those existing deductions in place.

Here’s the bottom line: The Senate bill would bring the total deductions available to seniors to $23,750 for single filers and $46,700 for married couples filing jointly. Those tax breaks are more expansive than the ones approved in the House bill earlier this year, which capped the new senior deduction at $4,000 per person.

The Senate bill would raise after-tax income for 33.9 million seniors by an average of $670

The One Big Beautiful Bill does not eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, but it does include tax breaks for seniors with modest incomes. The White House estimates the new $6,000 deduction will provide some measure of financial relief to 33.9 million seniors, with an average increase in after-tax income of $670 per person.

Importantly, legislation that entirely eliminated Social Security taxes would have resulted in twice as much savings for seniors, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, 88% of seniors on Social Security will pay no taxes on benefits under the Senate bill, up from 64% under current law, according to the White House. Put differently, 14.2 million seniors that currently owe taxes on Social Security would be exempted from those taxes if the bill becomes law.

All things considered, the Senate bill is a win for seniors on Social Security. It does not completely eliminate taxes on retirement benefits, but doing so would actually hurt the Social Security Trust Fund and potentially expedite benefit cuts by two years. Instead, the Senate bill provides financial relief for millions of seniors, but it targets individuals with modest incomes rather than doling out across-the-board tax breaks. That’s good news.

President Donald Trump’s pick to be chairman of the U.S. commodities watchdog, Brian Quintenz, fielded crypto questions more than any other topic at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, and he assured the lawmakers that the agency can walk a middle ground between unhampered innovation and robust consumer safeguards.

Even as Quintenz awaits the Senate Agriculture Committee’s vote on whether to advance his nomination as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Congress is working on market structure legislation that could elevate that agency as the marquee regulator of U.S. crypto activity. Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner, is no stranger to that sector, having served as venture capital firm a16z’s head of policy.

“I have always viewed market structure legislation as an opportunity to be both pro-customer protection and pro-innovation at the same time,” he told the senators weighing his nomination, which ultimately needs to be approved by the overall Senate before he can take over the commission. He said the bill could “provide the clarity to buildings, entrepreneurs, innovators to develop products” while also ensuring the regulated firms are appropriately protecting the users of those products.

“Congress should create an appropriate market regulatory regime to ensure that this technology’s full promise can be realized, and I am fully prepared to use my experience and expertise to assist in that effort as well in executing any expanded mission should legislation pass into law,” Quintenz said, adding that he’s willing to work under the CFTC’s current powers “to provide clarity of how the agency’s statutory objectives could be successfully leveraged through this technology.”

Quintenz would join a commission that’s being abandoned by commissioners. By statute, the CFTC has five members — with three from the party in power — but the members have left or are in the process of leaving, including Acting Chairman Caroline Pham, who said she’s leaving when Quintenz starts work. The lone Democrat, Kristen Johnson, said she’ll depart “later this year,” leaving some uncertainty about her timing. So Quintenz may serve opposite a single Democrat before eventually working alone for a time, leaving potential legal vulnerability for any unilateral policies.

Some of the Democratic senators noted the Trump administration has been systematically stripping regulatory commissions of their Democratic members — described by Senator Raphael Warnock as “political purges” — and asked Quintenz if he would encourage the White House to fill both sides of the roster.

“The president is the head of the executive, and the president will make his own decisions. Quintenz said. He later added, “I don’t tell the president what to do.”

He granted that the agency may need more funding if it’s assigned the monumental new task as the regulator of digital commodities spot markets, which would include transactions of bitcoin

. Quintenz said that new staff would be made more efficient by “a technology-first approach” that makes the employees more efficient.

Quintenz also fielded a number of questions on the prediction markets, another area he’s had direct experience with as a board member of Kalshi, which fought a legal battle with the CFTC over the regulation of event contracts. He defended such event contracts as an appropriate “hedging tool.”

“I believe the Commodity Exchange Act is very clear about the purpose of derivatives markets, the purpose of risk management and price discovery, and that events [contracts] can serve a function in that mandate,” he said.

Read More: Trump to Tap Former CFTC Commissioner, a16z Policy Head Brian Quintenz for CFTC Head

A senior Democrat in the House of Representatives, Jamie Raskin, joined his name to lawmakers seeking answers about President Donald Trump’s recent dinner for top investors in his memecoin, sending questions directly to Trump.

Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has been a vocal critic of the president and becomes the latest of many from his party to probe details about the event, which they’ve called out as evidence of White House corruption. Because Raskin is in the minority party, his demands are unlikely to lead to further congressional action unless they regain the House or Senate in next year’s elections.

“I write today to demand that you release the names of all the attendees at this dinner and provide information about the source of the money they each used to buy $TRUMP coins, so that we can prevent illegal foreign government emoluments from being pocketed without congressional consent,” Raskin wrote this week to the president, joining many counterparts in the Senate in seeking the information, including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.

“We deserve to know who is paying for access to our president, and what steps you took to ensure that the funds you receive are legitimate and legal, rather than the proceeds from foreign states or monarchs or illegal activities,” Rasking said, specifically highlighting Tron founder Justin Sun, a guest who was a major early investor in Trump’s family crypto operations.

Read More: Democrats Threaten Lawsuits, Join Protests Ahead of Trump Memecoin Dinner

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As President Donald Trump’s biggest memcoin buyers such as Tron founder Justin Sun bask in his attention over dinner on Thursday, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups have arrayed a series of protests and complaint sessions to decry the president’s crypto event as fundamentally corrupt.

Trump will host his dinner for more than 200 of his leading memecoin investors, whose money will fill the coffers of the president’s own business entities. They’ve reportedly been invited to his capital-area golf course, the Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C., outside of which the memecoin buyers may encounter protesters.

Some of the counter-programming for his dinner will start earlier in the day in front of the Capitol Building. At 12:45 p.m., Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, will round up other lawmakers in front of the House steps to rail against Trump, accusing him of abusing his White House powers to “shamelessly promote and profit from a series of crypto ventures tied to himself and his family,” according to a notice about the event.

Waters will also introduce a new messaging bill “to block Trump’s memecoin and stop his crypto corruption, once and for all.” The legislation, which is unlikely to make headway in a Republican-majority Congress, would ban presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress and their families from “engaging in similar crypto crime.”

It’s the same type of ban that Democrats had been seeking to insert into crypto legislation, but Republicans have declined to let Trump-targeting language into the current digital assets bills, including the Senate stablecoin effort getting close to the finish line.

Later on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., another press conference of Democratic lawmakers will feature Senators Chris Murphy and Elizabeth Warren, both of whom have been prominent in congressional criticism against Trump’s crypto actions. Murphy had introduced his own bill with a similar aim to Waters’, the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act to stop federal officials from using their positions to profit from digital assets.

That event — also outside the Capitol — will additionally feature Senator Jeff Merkley, who also intends to join an evening protest right outside Trump’s golf course, hosted by progressive groups under the banner of Our Revolution. The message of the “America Is Not For Sale” rally is to push back on “a blatant example of political access being sold to the highest bidder,” according to the group.

The guest list for the memecoin dinner hasn’t been made public, but analysis of the buying of those coins suggest that the biggest spenders devoted millions for the privilege of joining the president at the event. The attendees’ anonymity is part of the problem, according to critics, who say that foreign buyers are gaining access to the president without the knowledge of the public.

Debate over the president’s crypto ties temporarily delayed progress on the U.S. stablecoin legislation meant to set up rules for domestic issuers, but the bill got back on track this week to clear an important procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday.

Trump’s team has downplayed accusations of corruption. White House official Bo Hines said last week at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2025 conference in Toronto that the Trump family’s crypto ventures do not pose conflicts of interest, and they have “the right to engage in capital markets.”

Read More: Justin Sun Emerges as Donald Trump Memecoin’s Top Holder With $21.9M Stake