Over the previous couple of days, the newly elected US President Donald Trump has filled plenty of positions in his latest cabinet, although crucial position for the Bitcoin community—the Secretary of the Treasury—stays open. The role of Secretary of the Treasury could possibly be decisive for the establishment of a national strategic Bitcoin reserve, as promised by Trump during his election campaign.

In accordance with rumors, it’s a neck-and-neck race between Scott Bessent—former executive at George Soros’ hedge fund and founding father of Key Square Hedge Fund—and Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. While Bessent has attracted attention prior to now with pro-BTC comments, Lutnick is considered an absolute Bitcoin bull who’s massively invested in BTC himself.

Lutnick revealed in a recent interview with Anthony Pompliano, “I own a whole lot of tens of millions price of Bitcoin, and I expect that number to soon be within the billions.” Throughout the Bitcoin 2024 conference, he stated, “Bitcoin is similar as gold. And Bitcoin should trade similar to gold—all over the place on the planet, without exception.”

Lutnick Is The Perfect Pick For Bitcoin

Adding to the discourse, Tesla CEO Elon Musk voiced his support for Lutnick via a post on X on Saturday morning. Musk wrote, “Can be interesting to listen to more people weigh in on this for Donald Trump to think about feedback. My view fwiw is that Bessent is a business-as-usual selection, whereas Howard Lutnick will actually enact change. Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we’d like change a technique or one other.” This statement got here hours before Musk appeared beside Trump at Madison Square Garden for a UFC event.

Musk’s endorsement directly responded to a post by Kyle Bass, CIO of Hayman Capital Management, who argued for Bessent’s qualifications. Bass had stated, “Scott Bessent is eminently more qualified than Howard Lutnick to run the US Treasury. Scott understands markets, economics, people, and geopolitics higher than anyone I’ve ever interacted with. Markets have already anticipated a Bessent selection. Lutnick just isn’t Trump’s answer.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently appointed as the USA Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) by Trump, also weighed in on the Treasury Secretary debate. Kennedy commented on Bass’s assertion, saying, “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle-class Americans, a treatment against the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the offramp from a ruinous national debt. Bitcoin could have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnick.”

Tuur Demeester, a board member of the Texas Bitcoin Foundation, highlighted the huge impact which Kennedy could have on the subject of US Bitcoin policies, stating, “Nov ’24: a Kennedy who’s about to oversee 27% of US Federal spending gives Bitcoin his strongest possible endorsement—for individual liberty, to balance the budget, and to save lots of the dollar.”

Notably, the competition for the Treasury Secretary position is complicated by reports from The Latest York Times and The Wall Street Journal. In accordance with these sources, Lutnick, who co-chairs Trump’s transition team, has reportedly strained relations with the president-elect attributable to perceptions of overstepping and potential self-interest within the transition process.

Additional contenders for the role include former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan. Each are into consideration as Trump’s advisors seek candidates aligned with the administration’s economic agenda, particularly the implementation of great tariffs on imports—a cornerstone of Trump’s policy platform.

Furthermore, there stays speculation in regards to the emergence of a dark horse candidate. Robert Lighthizer, the previous US 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 a “trade czar.”

In accordance with Polymarket, it’s still a decent race. Scott Bessent is leading by a narrow margin with 36%, followed by Howard Lutnick with 34.9%. Kevin Warsh holds 16%, Marc Rowan 9%, Bill Hagerty 3%, and Robert Lighthizer 2%.

At press time, BTC traded at $91,908.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com