In recent days, the newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, has filled several positions in his new cabinet, although the most important position for the bitcoin community: Secretary of the Treasury, remains open. The role of the Secretary of the Treasury could be decisive in the creation of a national strategic reserve of bitcoin, as Trump promised during his election campaign.
According to rumors, this is a close race between Scott Bessent, former executive at George Soros' hedge fund and founder of Key Square Hedge Fund, and Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. While Bessent has attracted attention in the past with pro-btc comments, Lutnick is considered an outright bitcoin bull who has invested massively in btc.
Lutnick revealed in a recent interview with Anthony Pompliano: “I own hundreds of millions worth of bitcoin and I expect that number to soon reach the billions.” During the bitcoin 2024 conference, he stated: “bitcoin is the same as gold. And bitcoin should be traded just like gold, around the world, without exception.”
Lutnick is the perfect choice for bitcoin
Joining the speech, Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857819784865362211″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>voiced his support for Lutnick via a post on x on Saturday morning. Musk wrote: “It would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this so Donald Trump can consider their comments. My take is that Bessent is a business-as-usual option, while Howard Lutnick will actually implement the change. The current situation is bankrupting America, so we need to change one way or another.” This statement came hours before Musk appeared alongside Trump at Madison Square Garden for a UFC event.
Musk's endorsement responded directly to a post by Kyle Bass, CIO of Hayman Capital Management, who defended Bessent's qualifications. Bass had stated: “Scott Bessent is eminently more qualified than Howard Lutnick to lead the United States Treasury. Scott understands markets, economics, people, and geopolitics better than anyone I've ever interacted with. The markets have already anticipated a Bessent election. “Lutnick is not Trump's answer.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's recently appointed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), also weighed in on the Treasury Secretary debate. kennedy <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/TuurDemeester/status/1857942021475864661″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>commented on Bass' claim, saying: “bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle-class Americans, a remedy against the debasement of the dollar as the world's reserve currency and a way out of a ruinous national debt. bitcoin will not have a stronger defender than Howard Lutnick.”
Tuur Demeester, a board member of the Texas bitcoin Foundation, highlighted the massive impact Kennedy could have regarding US bitcoin policies, stating: “November 24: a Kennedy who is about to overseeing 27% of US federal spending gives bitcoin its strongest possible support: for individual freedom, for balancing the budget, and for saving the dollar.”
In particular, the race for Treasury Secretary is complicated by reporting in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. According to these sources, Lutnick, who co-chairs Trump's transition team, has reportedly strained relations with the president-elect due to perceptions of overreach and possible self-interest in the transition process.
Other contenders for the job include former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan. Both are being considered as Trump's advisers search for candidates aligned with the administration's economic agenda, particularly the implementation of major tariffs on imports, a cornerstone of Trump's political platform.
In addition, there continues to be speculation about the emergence of a hidden candidate. Robert Lighthizer, a former U.S. trade representative during Trump's first term and a key architect of the trade war with China, is being considered for a possible appointment as “trade czar.”
According PolymarketIt's still a close race. Scott Bessent narrowly leads with 36%, followed by Howard Lutnick with 34.9%. Kevin Warsh owns 16%, Marc Rowan 9%, Bill Hagerty 3% and Robert Lighthizer 2%.
At the time of this publication, btc was trading at $91,908.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
