The Trump administration is contemplating at the least 11 candidates to probably substitute Jerome Powell when his time period as Federal Reserve Chair expires in May — at the least three of them have publicly proven a constructive stance towards crypto.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advised Fox News on Wednesday that there are 11 “very sturdy candidates” for Fed chair, which he’ll start to vet and shortlist beginning subsequent month.
The checklist of candidates, as CNBC reported on Aug. 13, citing two administration officers, consists of Dallas Fed president Lorie Logan, former St. Louis Fed president James Bullard, Fed vice chair Philip Jefferson, Fed governor Chris Waller, Fed vice supervision chair Michelle Bowman and former Fed governor Larry Lindsey.
There are 11 sturdy Fed chair candidates. After Labor Day, we’ll begin interviews and current a shortlist to President Trump.@POTUS has a classy view of financial coverage, nice respect for the Fed, and desires a pacesetter who can restore its mission and credibility. pic.twitter.com/iAW6sG8FVU
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 27, 2025
The checklist additionally consists of Bush administration financial adviser Marc Sumerlin, funding financial institution Jefferies chief market strategist David Zervos and BlackRock’s chief funding officer for international mounted earnings Rick Rieder.
The Federal Reserve units the US rates of interest, which have an effect on how the market invests. Lower rates of interest improve liquidity and normally spur bets on unstable, dangerous property like crypto, whereas rate of interest hikes usually see buyers promote riskier bets.
Jefferies’ Zervos, BlackRock’s Rieder have oblique ties to crypto
Jefferies, the funding financial institution for which Zervos directs technique, is concerned in crypto-tied entities.
The financial institution has backed the current public debuts of buying and selling platform eToro, stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group, crypto change Bullish and crypto-based lender Figure Technology Solutions.
It additionally wager early on the Bitcoin (BTC) shopping for ambitions of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, and has reportedly had a senior banker devoted completely to crypto for at the least 5 years.
Meanwhile, BlackRock’s Rieder has made constructive comemntary in direction of crypto.
He advised The Wall Street Journal in early 2024 that Bitcoin might probably “be an enormous a part of the asset allocation framework” and that “over time folks turn into increasingly more snug with it.”
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Rieder had advised CNBC in November 2020 that he thought crypto and Bitcoin “is right here to remain” and that “the receptivity — notably millennials’ receptivity — of know-how and cryptocurrency is actual.”
BlackRock has the biggest Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds available on the market.
Feds Waller, Bowman make crypto-friendly strikes
Other candidates embrace the Fed’s Waller and Bowman, who’ve each not too long ago signalled a pleasant strategy to crypto.
Bowman, the Fed’s prime regulatory official, mentioned on Aug. 20 that the central financial institution’s workers must be allowed to speculate a small quantity in crypto to assist them perceive the know-how, including it will assist with a “working understanding of the underlying performance.”
Fed governor Waller mentioned a day later that the banking sector had “nothing to be afraid of” about crypto funds working outdoors the standard banking system, because it was “merely new know-how to switch objects and report transactions.”
In comparability, Powell has addressed crypto a handful of instances and has normally urged a cautious strategy. He mentioned in June that crypto had turn into extra mainstream and anticipated banks to extend engagement with the sector.
In December, he mentioned Bitcoin was extra of a competitor for gold than it was the US greenback.
Powell’s tenure as chair ends in May, however his 14-year time period on the Fed board ends in early 2028. His highly-awaited speech on Friday raised hopes of an rate of interest minimize, with monetary markets anticipating the Fed to chop charges when it once more meets in mid-September.
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