On August 28th, U.S. Treasury Secretary Benson stated late that there are 11 strong candidates for the Federal Reserve Chair position. Interviews will begin after Labor Day (September 1st this year), and a final list will be submitted to President Trump. Known crypto-friendly candidates on the list include David Zervos, chief market strategist at investment bank Jefferies; Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock; and Federal Reserve official Bowman and Federal Reserve Governor Waller.
David Zervos and Rick Rieder have been involved in cryptocurrency-related entities, including backing the recent public offerings of trading platform eToro, stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group, crypto trading platform Bullish, and crypto-based lender Figure Technology Solutions. David Zervos also provided early support for Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy Bitcoin purchase plan.
Bowman, the Federal Reserve's top regulatory official, said on August 20 that central bank employees should be allowed to invest in small amounts of cryptocurrencies to help them understand the technology, adding that this would provide a "realistic understanding of the underlying functionality." A day later, Fed Governor Waller said the banking industry has "nothing to fear" from cryptocurrency payments operating outside the traditional banking system because it is "just a new technology for transferring objects and recording transactions."
