Warsh is known as having a neutral to positive stance on Bitcoin and crypto.
U.S. president Donald Trump announced via Truth Social his nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve today, Jan. 30.
The decision comes as Trump continues to criticize current Chair Jerome Powell’s monetary policy decisions, particularly his handling of interest rates.
The nomination also comes shortly after the Fed recently decided to leave interest rates unchanged in its latest meeting, as The Defiant reported earlier.
Kevin Warsh, a partner at Duquesne Family Office, served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011 after being appointed under the George W. Bush administration.
Warsh on Crypto
Known as a longtime critic of loose monetary policy, Warsh has also been skeptical of crypto’s role as money. In a 2018 op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Warsh wrote that Bitcoin’s price volatility “significantly diminishes its usefulness as a reliable unit of account or an effective means of payment.”
However, in a 2021 interview for CNBC, Warsh admitted that “Bitcoin does make sense as part of a portfolio […].”
This past July, Warsh said in an interview that he doesn’t consider Bitcoin “a substitute to the dollar,” and thus doesn’t see it as a threat to Fed policy.
The news failed to boost the crypto market, which continued to tumble over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin has slipped below $83,000 and is down over 6% on the day, with the total crypto market capitalization losing 5.5% to reach about $2.9 trillion.
Powell’s policy has faced scrutiny from both political figures and market participants, and especially from President Trump, as The Defiant reported earlier. Trump has spent the first year of his second term as president openly and frequently criticizing Powell, including calling him a “very stupid person.”
Powell’s tenure ends in May, and Warsh still needs Senate confirmation before becoming the next Fed Chair.
This article was generated with the assistance of AI workflows.
