Author: Zen, PANews With Trump repeatedly hinting in public that he has already decided on the next Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), is considered by major media outlets and forecasting markets as one of the most likely candidates to succeed Powell. He is surrounded by three interwoven narratives: a typical Republican conservative economist, an official with substantial interests and policy overlaps with crypto assets, and a candidate labeled by some media outlets as "Trump's shadow chairman" in the controversy over "Federal Reserve independence." How did Hassett step into the position of "next chairman"? Born in Hassett, Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1962, he is a typical Republican economist with a mainstream macroeconomics background. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Swarthmore College and subsequently earned his master's and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Early in his academic career, he taught at Columbia Business School and served as a senior economist on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, specializing in macroeconomics and fiscal policy. In the think tank field, he worked for a long time at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI), serving as head of economic policy research and wielding considerable influence on tax reform, corporate tax, and capital markets. At the public level, he is best known for his early work, "Dow 36,000," co-authored with conservative columnist James K. Glassman. In the book, he declared at the height of the dot-com bubble in 1999 that the stock market was still "severely undervalued." This judgment was later proven wrong by market performance, but it made him famous within conservative economic circles. Before entering the White House, Hassett had advised Republican presidential candidates on economic policy campaigns on numerous occasions, including McCain in 2000 and 2008, George W. Bush in 2004, and Romney's campaign in 2012. In 2017, Trump appointed him chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), during which time he frequently defended Trump's tax cuts and industrial policies in public, emphasizing that tax cuts would increase corporate capital expenditures and wage growth. In mid-2019, he stepped down as chairman of the CEA and subsequently became a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution, continuing to advocate for tax and macroeconomic policy. During the 2020 pandemic, Hassett was brought back to the White House by Trump as a senior economic advisor, involved in assessing the economic impact of the pandemic and reopening strategies. Hassett had no prior experience in epidemiology, but some of the pandemic models he spearheaded were considered important guidelines within Trump's team. However, Hassett's models contradicted the assessments of public health experts and drew widespread criticism from academics and commentators. In late 2024, after winning the election, Trump announced that Hassett would serve as director of the National Economic Council (NEC) in his second term, responsible for coordinating economic policies within the White House. He officially assumed this position on January 20, 2025, becoming the primary economic "hub" for communication between the White House and the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Early in his second term, the Trump administration frequently signaled that it did not intend to reappoint Powell and began searching for a successor, spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. By the fall of 2025, several candidates had been shortlisted , including former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, and Blackstone executive Rick Rieder. As the fourth quarter progressed, the landscape of this candidate competition became clearer—Hassett was poised to emerge victorious in this "final round." The core reason Hassett was favored by Trump was that he met Trump's two main criteria for hiring: loyalty and market acceptance. As of December 5th, prediction market platforms such as Polymarket estimated Hassett's chances of being elected at approximately 75%. Mainstream media outlets like Bloomberg had previously cited sources as saying that Hassett had become the "top favorite" to succeed Powell. Trump himself has publicly stated that he has made his decision and will officially announce his nominee in early 2026, and has repeatedly praised Hassett in interviews. Even before the official nomination was announced, Hassett was already being described as the "shadow Fed Chair for the next five months." This meant that because the market believed he was highly likely to succeed Hassett, every public speech he gave over the next six months could be seen as a preview of the Fed's stance. Coinbase advisor, shareholder, cryptocurrency industry friendly For the cryptocurrency industry, Hassett's "substantial connection" with the crypto industry is the most noteworthy aspect compared to previous Federal Reserve chairs and other candidates. This connection includes both policy overlaps in his official capacity and related investments in his personal assets. In 2021, digital asset hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management announced the establishment of an "Academic and Regulatory Advisory Committee," with Hassett as one of its key members. While this role does not directly involve actual transactions, it signifies that Hassett has established formal ties with digital asset fund management as an advisor since 2021. In this process, he is also seen as an important bridge between traditional macroeconomics and emerging crypto assets. In 2023, Coinbase acquired part of One River's asset management business and reorganized it into the Coinbase Asset Management Academic and Regulatory Advisory Committee, while maintaining the original academic and regulatory advisory structure. Hassett thus became an advisor to Coinbase. Hassett is also an "investor" in Coinbase. In June 2025, as a senior White House official, Hassett reported in a financial disclosure to the Office of Government Ethics that his holdings of Coinbase Global (COIN) stock were valued between $1 million and $5 million. Upon taking office, Trump immediately signed a large number of executive orders. Among them, Executive Order 14178, "Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Digital Financial Technologies," rescinded Biden's executive orders on digital assets and explicitly prohibited the U.S. from launching a CBDC. It also established the Presidential "Digital Asset Markets Task Force," tasked with providing policy recommendations within 180 days on crypto assets, stablecoins, market structure, consumer protection, and a "national digital asset reserve." While organizationally led by David Sacks, Special Advisor for AI and Crypto Affairs at the White House, this task force is administratively subordinate to the National Economic Council (NEC), with Hassett responsible for coordination and overall management. The first working group report, released this summer, offered a comprehensive set of recommendations for the U.S. digital asset regulatory framework—including how banks should hold and manage their exposure to crypto assets, strengthening reserve transparency and compliance requirements in stablecoin regulation, streamlining crypto tax and anti-money laundering rules, and feasible pathways for a national digital asset reserve. In this process, Hassett is seen as a "key driver of the White House digital asset agenda," and is believed to have favored a "relatively friendly, but compliance-focused, crypto policy approach" in coordinating internally with agencies such as the Treasury, SEC, CFTC, and Justice Department. Compared to technical details, Hassett's public statements tend to focus more on macroeconomic and political-economic perspectives. He is categorized as "crypto-friendly," with many believing he views digital assets as part of American financial innovation and geopolitical competition, hoping the US will maintain its dominance in this field. Is the dovish "shadow chairman" a puppet of Trump? The biggest controversy surrounding Hassett lies not only in his pro-crypto stance, but also in whether he will act as an extension of Trump's will in monetary policy, thereby weakening the independence of the Federal Reserve. Based on recent statements and market interpretations, Hassett is widely regarded by mainstream institutions as a dovish candidate. Several bond investors and Wall Street institutions have expressed concerns to the U.S. Treasury Department, believing that if Hassett becomes chairman, he may "more aggressively push for interest rate cuts," even if inflation remains above the 2% target, arguing that he is highly aligned with Trump's demands for "faster and larger rate cuts." Hassett has stated publicly that he "sees no compelling reason to stop cutting rates now" and downplayed the inflationary pressures caused by tariffs, believing they could be offset by longer-term growth and structural measures. From a traditional "hawkish/dovish" perspective, Hassett is clearly closer to the dovish side, willing to cut rates faster and deeper even in a high-inflation environment. This is one of the key reasons why bond market participants are cautious and even concerned about him. Multiple foreign media outlets have reported that, regardless of the candidate, Trump values their loyalty most in order to achieve his goal of getting the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Interestingly, amidst questions about whether she might become a Trump puppet, Hassett herself has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Federal Reserve's independence in public interviews. In September 2025, he was directly asked on a CBS program: In a poll, a majority of Republican voters wanted the Federal Reserve to "act according to Trump's wishes," while a minority advocated for complete independence. Which side did he belong to? Hassett responded that he would 100% choose monetary policy to be completely independent of political influence, including influence from President Trump. He also warned that historically, countries that allowed political leaders to control their central banks often ended up with soaring inflation and consumers paying the price. However, in the same interview, Hassett also stated that he agreed with Treasury Secretary Bessant's view that the Federal Reserve should undergo a comprehensive review, including its mandate and research paradigm, and that if he were to become chairman in the future, he would be "prepared to implement this vision." In other words, while emphasizing formal independence, he also endorsed a series of proposals initiated by the Trump administration to "reshape the role of the Federal Reserve"—leaving room for interpretation. Regarding the question of whether Hassett has become a tool of Trump, some analysts point out that Hassett previously supported "typical mainstream conservative economic positions" such as carbon taxes, immigration expansion, and free trade. However, after working with Trump for a long time, he gradually shifted to supporting tariffs, tough immigration policies, and more politically charged economic issues. If such a "highly politicized economic advisor" takes over the Federal Reserve, it will pose a substantial test to the central bank's independence. The future is difficult to predict, but it is certain that whether Hassett will cater to Trump's demands for "more aggressive interest rate cuts" in specific decisions still depends on several constraints: the actual trend of inflation and employment, the voting behavior of other Fed governors and regional Fed presidents, and the financial market's tolerance for potential inflation and fiscal sustainability. As for the crypto market, even if the chairman is personally crypto-friendly, his direct influence is mainly concentrated in two aspects: first, the overall monetary environment, such as interest rates and liquidity; and second, his attitude when it comes to crypto-related financial stability risks, such as banks' exposure to crypto and the connection between stablecoins and payment systems. According to Trump's remarks at a White House cabinet meeting earlier this month, the nomination for the next Federal Reserve Chairman will be announced in early 2026. Although the official result has not yet been revealed, Kevin Hassett has already stepped into the spotlight, and the market has begun to scrutinize his every word with the standards of the "next chairman," preparing for a new chairman who may be more dovish and more familiar with crypto assets. Author: Zen, PANews With Trump repeatedly hinting in public that he has already decided on the next Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), is considered by major media outlets and forecasting markets as one of the most likely candidates to succeed Powell. He is surrounded by three interwoven narratives: a typical Republican conservative economist, an official with substantial interests and policy overlaps with crypto assets, and a candidate labeled by some media outlets as "Trump's shadow chairman" in the controversy over "Federal Reserve independence." How did Hassett step into the position of "next chairman"? Born in Hassett, Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1962, he is a typical Republican economist with a mainstream macroeconomics background. He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Swarthmore College and subsequently earned his master's and doctoral degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Early in his academic career, he taught at Columbia Business School and served as a senior economist on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, specializing in macroeconomics and fiscal policy. In the think tank field, he worked for a long time at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI), serving as head of economic policy research and wielding considerable influence on tax reform, corporate tax, and capital markets. At the public level, he is best known for his early work, "Dow 36,000," co-authored with conservative columnist James K. Glassman. In the book, he declared at the height of the dot-com bubble in 1999 that the stock market was still "severely undervalued." This judgment was later proven wrong by market performance, but it made him famous within conservative economic circles. Before entering the White House, Hassett had advised Republican presidential candidates on economic policy campaigns on numerous occasions, including McCain in 2000 and 2008, George W. Bush in 2004, and Romney's campaign in 2012. In 2017, Trump appointed him chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), during which time he frequently defended Trump's tax cuts and industrial policies in public, emphasizing that tax cuts would increase corporate capital expenditures and wage growth. In mid-2019, he stepped down as chairman of the CEA and subsequently became a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution, continuing to advocate for tax and macroeconomic policy. During the 2020 pandemic, Hassett was brought back to the White House by Trump as a senior economic advisor, involved in assessing the economic impact of the pandemic and reopening strategies. Hassett had no prior experience in epidemiology, but some of the pandemic models he spearheaded were considered important guidelines within Trump's team. However, Hassett's models contradicted the assessments of public health experts and drew widespread criticism from academics and commentators. In late 2024, after winning the election, Trump announced that Hassett would serve as director of the National Economic Council (NEC) in his second term, responsible for coordinating economic policies within the White House. He officially assumed this position on January 20, 2025, becoming the primary economic "hub" for communication between the White House and the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Early in his second term, the Trump administration frequently signaled that it did not intend to reappoint Powell and began searching for a successor, spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. By the fall of 2025, several candidates had been shortlisted , including former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, and Blackstone executive Rick Rieder. As the fourth quarter progressed, the landscape of this candidate competition became clearer—Hassett was poised to emerge victorious in this "final round." The core reason Hassett was favored by Trump was that he met Trump's two main criteria for hiring: loyalty and market acceptance. As of December 5th, prediction market platforms such as Polymarket estimated Hassett's chances of being elected at approximately 75%. Mainstream media outlets like Bloomberg had previously cited sources as saying that Hassett had become the "top favorite" to succeed Powell. Trump himself has publicly stated that he has made his decision and will officially announce his nominee in early 2026, and has repeatedly praised Hassett in interviews. Even before the official nomination was announced, Hassett was already being described as the "shadow Fed Chair for the next five months." This meant that because the market believed he was highly likely to succeed Hassett, every public speech he gave over the next six months could be seen as a preview of the Fed's stance. Coinbase advisor, shareholder, cryptocurrency industry friendly For the cryptocurrency industry, Hassett's "substantial connection" with the crypto industry is the most noteworthy aspect compared to previous Federal Reserve chairs and other candidates. This connection includes both policy overlaps in his official capacity and related investments in his personal assets. In 2021, digital asset hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management announced the establishment of an "Academic and Regulatory Advisory Committee," with Hassett as one of its key members. While this role does not directly involve actual transactions, it signifies that Hassett has established formal ties with digital asset fund management as an advisor since 2021. In this process, he is also seen as an important bridge between traditional macroeconomics and emerging crypto assets. In 2023, Coinbase acquired part of One River's asset management business and reorganized it into the Coinbase Asset Management Academic and Regulatory Advisory Committee, while maintaining the original academic and regulatory advisory structure. Hassett thus became an advisor to Coinbase. Hassett is also an "investor" in Coinbase. In June 2025, as a senior White House official, Hassett reported in a financial disclosure to the Office of Government Ethics that his holdings of Coinbase Global (COIN) stock were valued between $1 million and $5 million. Upon taking office, Trump immediately signed a large number of executive orders. Among them, Executive Order 14178, "Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Digital Financial Technologies," rescinded Biden's executive orders on digital assets and explicitly prohibited the U.S. from launching a CBDC. It also established the Presidential "Digital Asset Markets Task Force," tasked with providing policy recommendations within 180 days on crypto assets, stablecoins, market structure, consumer protection, and a "national digital asset reserve." While organizationally led by David Sacks, Special Advisor for AI and Crypto Affairs at the White House, this task force is administratively subordinate to the National Economic Council (NEC), with Hassett responsible for coordination and overall management. The first working group report, released this summer, offered a comprehensive set of recommendations for the U.S. digital asset regulatory framework—including how banks should hold and manage their exposure to crypto assets, strengthening reserve transparency and compliance requirements in stablecoin regulation, streamlining crypto tax and anti-money laundering rules, and feasible pathways for a national digital asset reserve. In this process, Hassett is seen as a "key driver of the White House digital asset agenda," and is believed to have favored a "relatively friendly, but compliance-focused, crypto policy approach" in coordinating internally with agencies such as the Treasury, SEC, CFTC, and Justice Department. Compared to technical details, Hassett's public statements tend to focus more on macroeconomic and political-economic perspectives. He is categorized as "crypto-friendly," with many believing he views digital assets as part of American financial innovation and geopolitical competition, hoping the US will maintain its dominance in this field. Is the dovish "shadow chairman" a puppet of Trump? The biggest controversy surrounding Hassett lies not only in his pro-crypto stance, but also in whether he will act as an extension of Trump's will in monetary policy, thereby weakening the independence of the Federal Reserve. Based on recent statements and market interpretations, Hassett is widely regarded by mainstream institutions as a dovish candidate. Several bond investors and Wall Street institutions have expressed concerns to the U.S. Treasury Department, believing that if Hassett becomes chairman, he may "more aggressively push for interest rate cuts," even if inflation remains above the 2% target, arguing that he is highly aligned with Trump's demands for "faster and larger rate cuts." Hassett has stated publicly that he "sees no compelling reason to stop cutting rates now" and downplayed the inflationary pressures caused by tariffs, believing they could be offset by longer-term growth and structural measures. From a traditional "hawkish/dovish" perspective, Hassett is clearly closer to the dovish side, willing to cut rates faster and deeper even in a high-inflation environment. This is one of the key reasons why bond market participants are cautious and even concerned about him. Multiple foreign media outlets have reported that, regardless of the candidate, Trump values their loyalty most in order to achieve his goal of getting the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Interestingly, amidst questions about whether she might become a Trump puppet, Hassett herself has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Federal Reserve's independence in public interviews. In September 2025, he was directly asked on a CBS program: In a poll, a majority of Republican voters wanted the Federal Reserve to "act according to Trump's wishes," while a minority advocated for complete independence. Which side did he belong to? Hassett responded that he would 100% choose monetary policy to be completely independent of political influence, including influence from President Trump. He also warned that historically, countries that allowed political leaders to control their central banks often ended up with soaring inflation and consumers paying the price. However, in the same interview, Hassett also stated that he agreed with Treasury Secretary Bessant's view that the Federal Reserve should undergo a comprehensive review, including its mandate and research paradigm, and that if he were to become chairman in the future, he would be "prepared to implement this vision." In other words, while emphasizing formal independence, he also endorsed a series of proposals initiated by the Trump administration to "reshape the role of the Federal Reserve"—leaving room for interpretation. Regarding the question of whether Hassett has become a tool of Trump, some analysts point out that Hassett previously supported "typical mainstream conservative economic positions" such as carbon taxes, immigration expansion, and free trade. However, after working with Trump for a long time, he gradually shifted to supporting tariffs, tough immigration policies, and more politically charged economic issues. If such a "highly politicized economic advisor" takes over the Federal Reserve, it will pose a substantial test to the central bank's independence. The future is difficult to predict, but it is certain that whether Hassett will cater to Trump's demands for "more aggressive interest rate cuts" in specific decisions still depends on several constraints: the actual trend of inflation and employment, the voting behavior of other Fed governors and regional Fed presidents, and the financial market's tolerance for potential inflation and fiscal sustainability. As for the crypto market, even if the chairman is personally crypto-friendly, his direct influence is mainly concentrated in two aspects: first, the overall monetary environment, such as interest rates and liquidity; and second, his attitude when it comes to crypto-related financial stability risks, such as banks' exposure to crypto and the connection between stablecoins and payment systems. According to Trump's remarks at a White House cabinet meeting earlier this month, the nomination for the next Federal Reserve Chairman will be announced in early 2026. Although the official result has not yet been revealed, Kevin Hassett has already stepped into the spotlight, and the market has begun to scrutinize his every word with the standards of the "next chairman," preparing for a new chairman who may be more dovish and more familiar with crypto assets.