TL;DR
Prediction markets place BlackRock executive Rick Rieder as the favorite to replace Jerome Powell at the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Powell’s term expires in May, and online wagers suggest President Donald Trump could choose Rieder for the position.
Rieder would bring a crypto-friendly view if he assumes the post. The BlackRock chief investment officer for global fixed income has publicly defended Bitcoin’s merits on multiple occasions over recent years.
The executive stated as far back as 2020 that Bitcoin could replace gold as a store of value. “Because it’s so much more functional than passing a bar of gold around,” he explained in an interview with CNBC. The statement came in early days of digital assets, when institutional adoption was just beginning.
More recently, Rieder told the same outlet that Bitcoin should be part of a smart investment mix. He described the leading digital token and gold as “things that give you a little bit of ballast in the portfolio,” suggesting their use as stabilizing assets.
In a September interview, when Bitcoin still traded above $112,000, Rieder predicted “it’s going to go up.” The cryptocurrency currently trades around $88,000, having fallen recently on possible tariffs and other geopolitical turmoil.
Trump must make a decision before Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s term expires on May 15. It was Trump who originally placed Powell, a Republican, in the key role, but the president has since routinely lamented his performance, calling him “dumb” and “stupid” and nicknames such as “Mr. Too Late“.
Meanwhile, Trump has frequently teased about frontrunners for his replacement, creating a volatile prediction market. Rieder has said it’s “an unbelievably honor to even be mentioned in that list.“
Rieder vocally shares Trump’s frustrations at the sedate pace at which the Fed has cut interest rates. In a recent interview during the president’s trip to Davos in Switzerland, Trump called Rieder “very impressive,” and his odds on Polymarket have climbed from under 3% to almost 53% at their height, before settling at a current 48%.
For the crypto sector, a Fed chair can pull multiple levers. Apart from a heavy influence in the group that sets the federal funds rate, the chair controls the board’s regulatory agenda. However, Powell has deferred to the vice chair for supervision, Michelle Bowman, on the Fed’s supervisory work.
Therefore, Rieder’s crypto enthusiasm may not have a significant play in the rules the Fed’s regulatory side writes for such things as stablecoins or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
More than as a mechanic of policy, a Fed chair has a softer role as an outsized voice on the health and direction of the U.S. economy, and a staunch bitcoin advocate in that position would be a first.
Though Powell is departing soon as chairman, his term as a regular governor on the Fed board continues, leaving some question about whether he’ll take the traditional route and exit after his leadership expires or stay on another two years. Every member of the board has an automatic seat on the Federal Open Market Committee that decides U.S. interest rates.
A Powell decision to stay would keep his generally centrist position in place in the group and would fail to open another seat for a Trump appointee.
Trump’s relentless criticism of Powell escalated last month when his Department of Justice said it’s investigating the central bank chairman for his public descriptions of renovations at the Federal Reserve buildings in Washington. Powell released an unusual, direct response.
“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the president’s preferences,” Powell stated.
The appointment of a Fed chair favorable to Bitcoin would mark a considerable shift in institutional tone toward digital assets. The position has been traditionally occupied by figures cautious about cryptocurrencies, focused on financial stability and systemic risks.
Rieder has demonstrated openness toward integrating digital assets into institutional portfolios, a perspective aligned with BlackRock’s strategy of offering crypto products to clients. The firm launched a spot Bitcoin ETF that has accumulated billions in assets under management.
Also read: Binance Delists 10 Crypto Pairs, Targets DeFi, Web3 and Metaverse
