Key Takeaways
- Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, a pro-Bitcoin advocate, as his commerce secretary.
- Lutnick’s financial background and support for Bitcoin align with Trump’s pro-crypto stance, emphasizing global trade and blockchain innovation.
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President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, to serve as Commerce secretary, as announced in a post on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.
Lutnick, known for his influential role in finance and outspoken support for Bitcoin and stablecoins, will spearhead Trump’s trade and economic agenda, including a proposed 60% tariff on Chinese goods.
“Bitcoin is like gold and should be free trade everywhere,” Lutnick said at a Bitcoin conference earlier this year. “We’ll do everything in our power to make it so.”
Lutnick expressed his support for crypto in a CNBC podcast last year, emphasizing that he is specifically a fan of Bitcoin, stating that other coins “are just not a thing.”
He also highlighted his admiration for the stablecoin Tether.
Cantor Fitzgerald, where Lutnick serves as CEO, is a primary dealer trading directly with the Federal Reserve and has expanded into crypto services.
The firm manages Tether’s US Treasury holdings that back its USDT stablecoin and recently launched a $2 billion Bitcoin financing operation.
As Commerce secretary, Lutnick will oversee the Department of Commerce’s 13 bureaus, including the Census Bureau and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
His responsibilities will include advancing Trump’s tariff-heavy trade policies, promoting foreign investment, and negotiating trade deals.
At Trump’s Madison Square Garden campaign rally last month, Lutnick said the US was most prosperous during the early 1900s, when there was “no income tax and all we had was tariffs.”
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