Trump is building his cabinet top-down, and crypto is toward the bottom 

Co-chairing Trump’s transition team to help fill administration positions is Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick

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President Donald Trump | Anna Moneymaker/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

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It’s been nearly a week since Donald Trump became the president-elect (again), and he’s been busy teasing his picks for top cabinet positions. 

While the administration’s so-called “border czar” position is dominating the headlines, sources say Trump is still planning on hiring a “crypto czar.” But establishing a digital assets-related task force is on the back burner, at least for now. Trump is, as expected, starting with the highest-level positions first, and he has some help. 

Co-chairing Trump’s transition team — to help fill the roughly 4,000 positions that will make up the administration — is Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick. One of Cantor’s notable clients is stablecoin issuer Tether, which is rumored to be the subject of a federal investigation

Trump, Lutnick and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been a cozy trio throughout the campaign, raising questions about how the billionaires could be serving their own business interests. 

Trump in September said Musk had agreed to head a new task force should he reclaim the White House. The “government efficiency commission” will conduct “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and make recommendations for drastic reforms,” Trump said during a campaign stop at the Economic Club of New York. 

Susie Wiles, who co-ran Trump’s campaign since 2022, is set to be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. 

Wiles reportedly tipped off big Republican donors that Trump plans to immediately reinstate executive orders from his first term, according to the New York Times. While specifics weren’t given, some of Trump’s 2016-era orders include withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization (both of which former President Joe Biden promptly reversed). 

If all goes according to plan, Trump’s national security adviser will be Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, who has mirrored Trump’s views on withdrawing support to Ukraine. The title of border czar will be given to Tom Homan, former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Homan’s RNC speech this year focused on mass deportation, a key pillar of Trump’s campaign. 

Crypto-friendly former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is out for Secretary of State and Marco Rubio is in (pending Senate approval, of course), according to people familiar with the matter. But Ramaswamy is a front runner to replace Vice President-elect JD Vance’s newly vacant Senate seat, I’ve heard. 

Positions still up for grabs include Secretary of the Treasury (investor John Paulson backed out this morning) and Defense Secretary (Fox is reporting that old Trump allies Robert Wilkie and Robert O’Brien may be on the short list). 

And, of course, there’s the SEC. As we’ve covered before, Trump’s promise to “fire Gary Gensler on day one” may not be legally sound, but he is likely to tap current Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair should Gensler not step down on his own. 

Plus, it’s worth remembering that Trump isn’t one to shy away from a court battle, so who knows how this one might turn out.


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With the recent election, it’s clear that there will be a meaningful shift in crypto regulations and legislation. Trump is likely as pro-crypto as a president can be. He launched (multiple) of his own NFT collections and is launching an Aave wrapper called World Liberty Fi. He has also spoken out and mentioned that he wants to make the United States "the crypto capital of the planet" and transform it into the "Bitcoin superpower of the world". He proposed creating a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile alongside support from Senator Cynthia Lummis, promising to retain 100% of all Bitcoin held by the U.S. government. More importantly, we’re likely to see deregulation across the board in a lot of industries, with crypto being one of them - as Trump has committed to keeping the crypto market largely unregulated. Crypto, DeFi in particular, has historically been knee-capped by overreaching and hostile governmental agencies and regulation by enforcement, as evidenced by the plethora of Wells notices and lawsuits over the past few years. With Donald Trump winning the presidency, Republicans taking control of the Senate, and being on the verge of securing the House, we think it’s likely that crypto realizes positive regulatory clarity. Below, you can find our analysts’ takes:

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