Just when he looked poised to tap a crypto bull to run America’s economy, Donald Trump is reportedly having a rethink.
After whittling down his list of possible Treasury Secretary picks to Wall Street executives Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick last week, the president-elect is now reconsidering whether either crypto advocate is up to the job—and is considering some less crypto-friendly alternatives, according to a new report in The New York Times.
The issues appear to primarily be interpersonal. According to the report, Lutnick—who also runs Trump’s transition team—has aggressively lobbied to have himself appointed to run the Treasury, and has denigrated Bessent’s fitness to occupy the position as a means to elevate his chances.
The entire affair has reportedly irritated Trump, to the degree that he is now looking beyond both men to fill the coveted Treasury post.
While the drama appears to have little to do with crypto on its face, it could have significant implications for the sector.
Both Bessent and Lutnick would likely operate the Treasury Department in a manner unprecedentedly amenable to the digital assets industry. Bessent has expressed openness to operating a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve; Lutnick is a major Bitcoin believer whose company Cantor Fitzgerald custodies billions of dollars worth of assets for stablecoin giant Tether.
As Treasury Secretary, both men would likely reverse Biden-era policies that, from stablecoins to crypto privacy tools, have staked out an aggressive and skeptical stance against some of crypto’s most popular offerings.
But according to the Times, Trump is now considering two new candidates for the job due to his frustrations—and neither option is nearly as pro-crypto as Bessent or Lutnick.
The two alternatives, former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh and Wall Street investor Marc Rowan, have mixed views on the novel industry.
Warsh has long advocated for the creation of an American central bank digital currency (CBDC), a development that many in crypto have attempted to prevent for years due to privacy concerns. Rowan, meanwhile, expressed skepticism as recently as February about the need for digital assets to be a part of the U.S. economy.
Trump is reportedly intrigued by Warsh in particular because he finds the banker to be “smart and handsome.”
He is expected to meet with both Warsh and Rowan about the Treasury position this week.
Edited by Andrew Hayward