On Friday, President-Elect Donald Trump picked pro-crypto hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his administration's new Treasury Secretary, pending a Senate confirmation. The 62-year-old has supported Trump's call for the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve, as well as his broader overtures to the crypto industry.
"I have been excited about the [Trump's] embrace of crypto, and I think it fits very well with the Republican Party, Bessent told media this summer. "Crypto is about freedom.. The crypto economy is here to stay, the Democrats are running from it because they are trying to wash off the stench of Sam Bankman-Fried and his family donations to the Democratic party."
Bessent's ambit will include tax policy, managing growing debt, and may grow to include crypto policy, market analysts believe.
Bessent has also been a major donor to Trump, extending $1 million to the Republican candidate for his 2016 inauguration. In the past, Trump has labeled Bessent as "one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street."
In terms of his economic viewpoints, Bessent espouses a "3-3-3" strategy, where he is advising Trump to deploy deregulation to achieve 3% annual growth to the GDP, trim the budget deficit by making it just 3% of the GDP in the next four years, and increase daily oil production by 3 million barrels a day, according to the New York Times.
Moreover, Bessent has tried to clarify Trump's controversial economic policies, particularly his proposal to levy protectionist tariffs. While even some Republicans criticized the tariffs for inflating costs and burdening businesses and consumers, Bessent claims that Trump deploys them as strategic leverage to pressure other nations into meeting his demands.
Others in Musk's camp, like Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk, hoped for a different Treasury Secretary in the form of Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
"Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda," Trump said in his announcement. "We will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America."