Coinbase CEO Meets with Trump

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is set to meet with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday to discuss "personnel appointments," as reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

Cabinet Appointments

Trump has swiftly filled various cabinet positions recently. Notably, he has chosen bitcoin-friendly former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services, alongside Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX) and Vivek Ramaswamy (co-founder of Strive Enterprises) to lead the Department of Government Efficiency — all of whom have shown a favorable stance towards cryptocurrency.

Key Positions Pending

As of now, Trump has not selected nominees for Treasury Secretary and chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, roles that would significantly impact the cryptocurrency industry. A potential candidate for Treasury Secretary is Howard Lutnick, CEO of global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and an advocate of bitcoin, according to news sources.

Lutnick's firm has served as a custodian for Tether, and he has publicly supported Tether's reserves. At Bitcoin 2024 earlier this summer, Lutnick explained that USDT, the world's largest stablecoin, is pegged to the U.S. dollar and holds reserves in U.S. Treasurys, bitcoin, and gold.

Ongoing Conversations

Coinbase has not commented on the meeting scheduled for Monday. Reports also indicate that the company has been liaising with Trump's transition team to facilitate a dialogue between Armstrong and Lutnick.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also indicated that he has had discussions with people close to Trump regarding personnel appointments. Additionally, executives at Circle have communicated with Trump's transition team, as noted by NYT, although neither Circle nor Ripple provided comments when contacted.