Trump nominates Secretary of Commerce: How legendary is Howard Lutnick, who manages half of the USDT reserves?

Trump's new team has ignited the first fire in the crypto world. Author: jk Original: Odaily Planet Daily Cover: Photo by Harold Mendoza on Unsplash On November 19, local time in the US, the incoming US President Trump announced a new cabinet nomination: he nominated Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, as the new Secretary of Commerce, who was previously a candidate for Treasury Secretary (yesterday he was elected with a 9% probability in the Polymarket related pool). Trump said in the statement that Lutnick will lead all US affairs related to tariffs and trade. As for the position of Secretary of Commerce, he will lead all the hot responsibilities of the Department of Commerce: responsible for funding new chip factories, implementing trade restrictions, releasing economic data, and even monitoring the weather. He is also one of the co-chairs of Trump's transition team, responsible for filling about 4,000 government positions before the presidential inauguration. According to the procedural rules and past experience, it will take 2 to 4 months for the background investigation and Senate confirmation vote from the time of the President's nomination to the final inauguration. The most relevant thing to the crypto world is that Howard Lutnick, as the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, manages more than half of the reserve funds behind Tether. (Odaily previously reported that the $39 billion in USDT reserves (US Treasuries) of the stablecoin issuer Tether are managed by the Wall Street bond trading giant Cantor Fitzgerald. Tether reported earlier this week that its assets were $67 billion as of the end of 2022. Tether has also become the "unshakable cornerstone of the crypto world" due to its overwhelming market share in stablecoins.) So, how strong is Howard Lutnick's background? What is his relationship with Trump and Musk? What statements or initiatives does he have for the crypto industry? Odaily Planet Daily will detail the story of Howard Lutnick in this article.

Through a series of profitable transactions, he won the favor of the company and quickly established a deep mentoring relationship with the company's founder, Bernard Cantor. Howard later described his rise process: "The first time I made him $100 million, he liked me; the second time I made $100 million, he fell in love with me; the third time I made $100 million - we became family."

In 1991, Howard was appointed President and CEO of the company. At that time, he was only 29 years old.

However, the Cantor Fitzgerald offices were located on the 105th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. On the day of the 9·11 incident, Howard was taking his son to kindergarten and was late as a result; but just as he was rushing to the office, he saw the billowing smoke from the twin towers. His brother, Gary Lutnick, and 658 of the 960 Cantor Fitzgerald employees were killed in the terrorist attack that day.

We do not know how Howard faced this tragedy after that day, we can only dig up some clues from the interviews. According to The Economist, for the next three years, he "cried almost every day" and even shed tears during television interviews. At first, the media expressed sympathy and praised him, but a few days later, they began to criticize him harshly for not paying salaries to the families of the deceased employees, calling him heartless, hypocritical, and attention-seeking. He insisted that he had no choice: "This is just a math problem... the company has no money." Over the next five years, he donated the equivalent of a quarter of the remaining employee salaries to the victims' family fund. Over time, the company regained its vitality. He said his employees "re-stitched his soul."

Fortunately, Howard pushed for the IPO of Cantor Fitzgerald's electronic trading subsidiary eSpeed in 1999. This electronic trading system does not require brokers, which was one of the key reasons Cantor Fitzgerald survived after "9·11". Due to the loss of a large number of employees, they were forced to adopt electronic trading, replacing the traditional operation of the government bond market.

According to the Associated Press, in 2013, Cantor Fitzgerald reached a $135 million settlement with American Airlines and insurance companies over deaths and personal injuries. Howard said at the time: "We can never, and will never, view this event as 'ordinary'. For us, there is no way to describe this compromise with words like 'ordinary', 'fair' or 'reasonable'. The only thing we can say is that this matter has ended in legal form."

Trump mentioned this tragedy when nominating Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce, calling him the "embodiment of resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy".

Musk supports his appointment as Treasury Secretary, but he became Commerce Secretary

As a billionaire, his statements are always inclined towards the traditional blue-collar workers of America. Trump proposed during the campaign to impose a 60% tariff on Chinese imports and up to a 20% tariff on all other US imports. Howard clearly supported this plan in a CNBC interview in September. He said: "Tariffs are an excellent tool the president can use - we need to protect American workers."

He is also a staunch supporter of the MAGA movement. Howard was one of the major fundraisers for Trump's 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns. He hosted fundraising events at his Manhattan home and publicly supported Trump's policies.

In October 2024, Lutnick spoke at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, emphasizing the strong performance of the US economy in 1900 and advocating the restoration of high tariffs and no income tax policies. Howard claimed, he missed the days when America had no income tax.

In 2022, he pushed for the IPO of the right-wing video platform Rumble, providing a platform for public figures who have been rejected by mainstream tech giants. "This is the return of the free speech internet," he said. "We just want the America we grew up in."

Previously, billionaire Elon Musk and others in Trump's circle called on Trump to abandon the former hot candidate for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and instead support Howard. Musk posted: "Bessent is a 'business as usual' choice, while Howard Lutnick will truly drive change."

However, ultimately Howard Lutnick did not become Treasury Secretary, but was instead nominated as Commerce Secretary. (Further reading: Focus on the US Treasury Secretary Nomination, Can the Crypto Industry Welcome a New Ally?)

Howard Lutnick's Crypto Statements

Howard Lutnick and his company's relationship and support for crypto is real and substantial. In an interview with a CNBC podcast last year, he said: "I am a supporter of cryptocurrencies, but I am very clear: Bitcoin, just Bitcoin. The other tokens are not worth mentioning. I am also a strong supporter of a stablecoin called Tether."

Previously, he stated at a Bitcoin conference: "Bitcoin should be traded freely around the world, just like gold. As the world's largest wholesaler, we will do our utmost to achieve this goal. Bitcoin should be traded globally without exception or restriction, just like gold."

According to CoinDesk report, his company is not only the manager of Tether's reserve funds, co-processing US Treasury transactions; Cantor Fitzgerald has recently announced a Bitcoin financing business, planning to provide leverage for Bitcoin investors with an initial fund of up to $2 billion.

In the latest X post, Howard said: "Thank you, President Trump, for trusting me to help achieve the goal of 'Making America Great Again'. As the next Secretary of Commerce, I will join the best government team in American history and fully unleash our economic potential!"

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