The crypto community is buzzing over reports that President-elect Donald Trump is poised to name a prominent Wall Street figure and digital asset enthusiast to a key economic post in his incoming administration. Sources close to the transition say Trump has tapped Howard Lutnick, the CEO of financial services giant Cantor Fitzgerald, to serve as the next Secretary of Commerce.
Lutnick, a long-time Trump confidant, has emerged as an influential champion for cryptocurrency in recent years. His firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, has cultivated deep ties to the burgeoning digital asset space while maintaining its stature as a power player in traditional finance, including serving as one of the exclusive primary dealers authorized to transact directly with the Federal Reserve.
Tether Ties That Bind
Of particular note is Cantor Fitzgerald’s relationship with Tether, issuer of the USDT stablecoin and a controversial but central fixture in crypto trading markets. Since 2021, Cantor has reportedly helped manage Tether’s mammoth reserve of US Treasury bills, which back the value of USDT and make it a vital source of liquidity for investors moving between crypto and fiat currency.
While some have criticized Tether’s opacity and speculated about the composition of its reserves, Lutnick has remained a vocal advocate for the stablecoin giant. “I’m a fan of crypto, but let me be very specific: Bitcoin, just Bitcoin,” he said in a CNBC podcast interview last year.
“All those other coins — they just don’t exist. I’m a big believer in this stablecoin called Tether.”
Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO
Bitcoin As Commodity
Lutnick has also echoed many Bitcoin purists in arguing that the original cryptocurrency should be treated as a commodity — subject to less stringent regulation than stocks or bonds — and lauding its decentralization and censorship resistance.
If tapped to lead the Commerce Department, Lutnick would be positioned to promote a crypto-friendly agenda on issues like taxation, anti-money laundering rules and consumer protections. Some in the industry hope his influence could tip the scales toward a lighter regulatory touch as federal agencies grapple with how to police the freewheeling crypto markets.
Tragic History, Electronic Evolution
For Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald, the embrace of crypto represents another chapter in a dramatic corporate transformation touched off by disaster. The firm lost a staggering 658 employees — almost two thirds of its New York headquarters staff — in the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
The devastating losses spurred Cantor to shift aggressively toward electronic trading in bond markets, a realm formerly dominated by human brokers making deals by phone or in person. Today, as Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan grudgingly acknowledge crypto’s disruptive potential, Cantor’s eerily similar pivot two decades ago appears prophetic.
Beyond Bitcoin: Blockchain Bets
Though best known for its early and enduring embrace of Bitcoin, Cantor Fitzgerald has also placed strategic bets on other corners of the blockchain universe. The firm recently unveiled plans for a $2 billion fund to provide leveraged financing to Bitcoin investors and has announced forays into crypto asset management and mining.
If he takes the reins at Commerce, Lutnick would bring this wide-angle view of crypto’s unrealized potential to a department with expansive influence over industries as disparate as manufacturing, travel, telecommunications and weather monitoring. While many of the regulations governing digital assets fall under other agencies’ purview, having a crypto-savvy ally in the cabinet could still prove invaluable as the industry tries to shape policy and public perception.
For now, chatter about Lutnick’s ascent to Commerce remains speculative, with Trump’s transition team declining to confirm his selection ahead of a formal announcement. But as anticipation builds around the President-elect’s governing agenda, the prospect of a “Secretary Lutnick” has crypto’s true believers feeling bullish.
