Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is reportedly set to hold a private meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss key personnel appointments.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s transition team facilitated the meeting. It could potentially shape decisions on critical roles that impact the crypto industry, including the Treasury Secretary and the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Crypto’s Role in Cabinet Appointments
Trump has already demonstrated a clear interest in involving crypto-friendly people in his administration, including recent appointees such as Robert F. Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a proposed Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.).
Given his election promises to the crypto community, whose financial muscle helped fill Congress with allies, Trump’s pending picks for Treasury and the SEC are of great interest.
While it is still unclear if Armstrong will play a direct role in the new administration, there is speculation that he may have been roped in to help decide on the list of candidates for the coveted position, which now reportedly includes Tennessee Senator Bill Haggerty, economic policy advisor Kevin Warsh, investor Scott Bessent, and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan.
Howard Lutnick, CEO of global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and a known Bitcoin advocate, is also rumored to be a top candidate for the Treasury Secretary position.
Reports suggest that Coinbase has facilitated discussions between Lutnick and Armstrong as part of Trump’s transition planning, potentially strengthening the crypto industry’s ties with the upcoming administration.
However, it has also emerged that Lutnick’s aggressive lobbying for the Treasury post may have rubbed some of Trump’s advisors the wrong way, leading to a reconsideration of potential alternatives.
Coinbase’s Political Activism
Armstrong has been vocal about pro-crypto appointments to Trump’s cabinet, including a recent endorsement of SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to lead the regulatory agency.
His public utterances are in line with Coinbase’s financial commitments during the just-ended election cycle. The exchange is said to have donated more than $100 million to political action committees (PACs), including $40 million to Fairshake.
Although he did not directly contribute to Trump’s campaign, Armstrong has shown great support for several of the President-elect’s policy initiatives, including D.O.G.E., a stance some have interpreted as the crypto executive’s willingness to work with the incoming government.
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