Powell's top candidate, Hassett, turns out to be a cryptocurrency enthusiast?

"Trump is very likely to announce the new Federal Reserve Chair nominee before Christmas."

Written by: Nicky, Foresight News

On November 25, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent revealed that the nomination for Federal Reserve Chair has entered the final round of interviews, with five candidates set to undergo final evaluations this week. President Trump is "very likely" to announce the result before Christmas.

Among the five candidates, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett currently leads the pack. Prediction market Polymarket data shows Hassett's probability of being elected has risen to 52%.

The market has already reacted to the possibility of Hassett's appointment. In late November, after Bloomberg reported he had become a frontrunner, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury fell below 4% (for the first time in a month), reflecting investors' expectations that if he takes office, he will push for a more aggressive rate-cutting policy.

This economic advisor to Trump has a notable connection to the cryptocurrency industry: not only has he publicly held Coinbase stock worth millions of dollars, but he has also served as a member of the exchange's advisory board.

An Economist Shuttling Between the White House and Think Tanks

Hassett was born in Massachusetts. After completing his undergraduate degree in economics at Swarthmore College, he went on to earn a master's and PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Early in his career, he mainly worked in academia, teaching at Columbia Business School and New York University, and conducting macroeconomic and fiscal policy research at the Federal Reserve's research department.

Since the late 1990s, he has long served as an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, with research covering taxation, capital formation, and long-term growth. In the field of public policy, he has provided economic advisory support to several Republican politicians, including McCain, George W. Bush, and Romney.

Hassett's government career spans two Trump terms. He served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 to 2019, and briefly returned to the White House as a senior advisor during the 2020 pandemic. In 2025, after Trump's return to the White House, he was appointed Director of the National Economic Council, making him one of the most important policymakers for current White House economic policy. During the Treasury's process of screening candidates for Federal Reserve Chair, he is seen as the potential candidate whose policy orientation aligns most closely with Trump.

Intersection with the Crypto Industry

Although Hassett rarely discusses stablecoins or payment system reforms as frequently as some Federal Reserve officials, he does have a public record of interaction with the crypto industry. According to financial disclosures from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, he holds at least $1 million in Coinbase stock, possibly up to $5 million. These shares were compensation for his role as a member of Coinbase's Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council, which also includes several former government policy figures.

This experience shows that Hassett does not merely observe the crypto industry from a regulatory perspective, but has directly participated in its governance and policy discussions. Although public records do not show him holding bitcoin or other on-chain assets, his equity in related companies has led the market to generally view him as a policy figure relatively friendly to the crypto industry.

He has participated in White House internal working groups on digital asset policy, advocated for preserving space for innovation within regulatory frameworks, and believes that crypto technology is an important variable affecting the future economic structure. On broader policy views, he has repeatedly advocated for a faster pace of interest rate cuts and believes that a loose monetary environment helps support economic growth. Such positions have traditionally been seen as favorable to risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

Why the Federal Reserve Chair Is So Important to the Crypto Industry

The Federal Reserve Chair is the top decision-maker for U.S. monetary policy, but their influence goes far beyond interest rates. With the "GENIUS Act" set to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins in 2025, the Federal Reserve and the banking regulatory system will officially become the core supervisors of stablecoin issuance.

As the scale of "on-chain dollars" continues to grow, the relationship between stablecoin reserves and the U.S. Treasury market will become even closer. If stablecoin issuance increases, demand for Treasuries may rise, thereby changing yields, liquidity, and the way the dollar system is used, which in turn will affect capital inflows into crypto assets.

Whether banks and non-bank financial institutions can compliantly participate in crypto or stablecoin businesses depends on the attitude of the Federal Reserve and related regulatory agencies. The degree to which the traditional financial system is open will determine whether the crypto industry maintains an "independent ecosystem" or fundamentally integrates into mainstream finance.

This means that every Federal Reserve Chair candidate, whether or not they directly discuss crypto topics, will have a structural impact on the industry.