Crypto-friendly White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has reportedly emerged as a top candidate for the next Federal Reserve chair, replacing Jerome Powell when his tenure is up in May.
President Donald Trump’s advisers and backers see Hassett as the frontrunner to take over as Fed chair, as he’s expressed sympathy with Trump’s desire to cut rates, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Hassett is the director of the National Economic Council, who oversees the White House’s digital asset working group that Trump created in January. This group released a report in July outlining policy considerations for crypto.
Hassett is one of many reported crypto-friendly Fed chair picks who have backed Trump’s desire for the central bank to cut rates to juice up the markets. Powell’s time as chair is up in May, but his tenure on the Fed Board extends until January 2028.
Asked by Fox News on Tuesday if he would take a job as Fed chair, Hassett said, “Of course I’d have to say yes, because I want to serve my country and I want to serve my president.”
“President Trump and I have talked a lot about it,” he added.
Hassett owns Coinbase stocks, was a crypto adviser
In June, Hassett reportedly disclosed that he owned at least $1 million worth of Coinbase (COIN) stock.
He also disclosed that he received a $50,001 salary from Coinbase for serving on the crypto exchange’s Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council, which the company created in 2023 and also included Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton.
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Hassett has previously served on the advisory board for the crypto fund manager One River Digital Asset Management and was chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 to 2019, in Trump’s first term.
Trump’s Fed chair list looks crypto-friendly
Trump has reportedly also screened Fed Governor Chris Waller, who advocated for decentralized finance to bankers in August.
Also on the potential to take over the Fed is its vice supervision chair, Michelle Bowman, who said Fed staff should be allowed to invest a small amount in crypto to get a “working understanding of the underlying functionality.”
Whoever Trump picks, he’ll be pressuring them to cut rates. The Fed has cut rates twice this year by a total of 50 basis points.
The market has turned bullish on a Christmas cut when the Fed meets in December, with CME’s FedWatch putting the chances of a 25-basis-point cut at around 85%.
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