Trump’s leading pick for Treasury Secretary is ‘very pro-crypto’

Scott Bessent, one of the leading candidates for United States Treasury Secretary in President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, has a friendly stance on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Bessent, founder of Key Square Group and former Soros Fund Management investing chief, is “very pro-crypto,” Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett said in a Nov. 11 X post.

“Trump’s leading pick for Treasury Secretary — billionaire hedge fund investor Scott Bessent — is very pro-crypto, particularly pro-Bitcoin,” Terrett wrote, citing a couple of Bessent’s statements on the industry.

“Crypto is about freedom, and the crypto economy is here to stay”

According to Terrett, Bessent delivered a number of pro-crypto statements recently, expressing his positive stance on cryptocurrencies, which aligns with Trump’s ambitious promise to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet.”

In one of the recent crypto-related statements, Bessent said:

“I have been excited about the president’s embrace of crypto and I think it fits very well with the Republican Party, crypto is about freedom, and the crypto economy is here to stay.” 

Bessent also spoke in favor of Bitcoin (BTC), highlighting its power to bring young newcomers to financial markets. He stated:

“One of the most exciting things about Bitcoin is that it brings in young people and those who have not participated in markets before. Cultivating a market culture in the US, where people believe in a system that works for them, is the centerpiece of capitalism.”

Other candidates?

According to Reuters, Trump started the process of choosing a cabinet and selecting other administration officials last week following his victory in the US presidential election.

Trump, who is set to return to the White House on Jan. 20, reportedly met with Bessent and his fellow investor John Paulson on Nov. 8.

Citing two people close to the president-elect, Reuters reported that Bessent and Paulson are now the two leading candidates for the key role of US Treasury Secretary.

Bessent and Paulson, both financial supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, have long been in Trump’s sights for a role in his administration.

During a January campaign speech, Trump suggested that Paulson could be a potential Treasury Secretary. According to Reuters, Trump wanted Paulson to lead the Treasury, and if not him, Bessent.

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Paulson, who served as one of the top economic advisers to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, is known for his prior negative stance on crypto.

In 2021, Paulson argued that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have “no intrinsic value” and criticized the volatility of crypto compared to relatively stable traditional markets.

However, Trump himself also slammed Bitcoin heavily during and after his first presidential term, calling it a “scam” and just “another currency competing with the US dollar” in July 2021. Those claims did not stop Trump from declaring himself a pro-crypto candidate and stating that “crypto is the future”  in his 2024 campaign.

Apart from choosing the candidate for the US Treasury Secretary role, Trump has to pick a vast number of officials for key federal financial agencies, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the Washington Post, the names under consideration for chair of the SEC and other positions include Daniel Gallagher, Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda.

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