In a development that has captivated both Wall Street and the cryptocurrency world, Kevin Hassett, the current Director of the White House National Economic Council, has surged ahead as the clear frontrunner to become the next Chair of the Federal Reserve. This shift, reported on November 27, 2025 by multiple outlets including Bloomberg, PoundSterlingLIVE, and Benzinga, is already rippling through currency markets and digital asset circles, as investors try to anticipate what a "Hassett Fed" might mean for the U.S. economy—and their portfolios.
Hassett’s rapid rise to the top of prediction markets has been nothing short of dramatic. According to PoundSterlingLIVE, Polymarket assigned Hassett a 34% chance of succeeding Jerome Powell as Fed Chair, well ahead of rivals Kevin Warsh and Chris Waller, both at just 6%. By the time Benzinga checked in, bettors on Polymarket had pushed those odds up to 52%, while Kalshi, another market, pegged Hassett’s chances at 55%. Just two days earlier, Hassett and Waller were neck and neck in the race, but a Bloomberg report naming Hassett as the frontrunner sent odds surging in his favor. As of now, he’s not just the market’s favorite—he’s the base case, with crypto investors and policy watchers alike gaming out the implications.
What’s behind Hassett’s sudden ascendance? According to Benzinga, the answer lies in his close relationship with former President Donald Trump, who is widely expected to make the final nomination. Hassett led the Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’s first term and is seen by Trump’s allies as someone who would reliably carry out the former president’s approach to monetary policy—namely, a bias for lower interest rates. As one source put it to Benzinga, Hassett is a “close ally” who “would carry Trump’s approach for lowering interest rates at the Fed.”
Hassett’s own statements reinforce this dovish reputation. He has openly advocated for immediate interest rate cuts, declaring last week that he would cut U.S. rates “right now” if he were in charge at the Fed. After the Fed’s 25-basis-point rate cut in September, he remarked, “That’s a good first step in the right direction of much lower rates.” This stance aligns closely with Trump’s public calls for easier money and has fueled expectations of a more aggressive easing cycle in the years ahead.
The prospect of a Hassett-led Fed has already had a tangible impact on financial markets. As George Vessey, Lead FX and Macro Strategist at Convera, told PoundSterlingLIVE: “Kevin Hassett as the next potential Fed chair adds another layer of intrigue. His openly dovish stance—calling for cuts immediately and aligning with Trump’s bias for lower rates—reinforces market expectations of a more aggressive easing cycle. That prospect has already contributed to lower Treasury yields and a softer dollar.” The dollar, which had enjoyed a strong run over the summer, has since reversed course as the odds of a December rate cut climbed to nearly 90%, up from less than 50% just weeks ago.
This monetary policy pivot is not without controversy. The Fed Chair wields enormous influence over the central bank’s direction, and a leader seen as closely aligned with the White House raises concerns about the independence of U.S. monetary policy. As PoundSterlingLIVE noted, “A Fed that is almost likely to be more closely aligned with White House thinking raises concerns about monetary independence in the U.S., inviting a political risk premium to work into U.S. monetary assets. This can weigh on the dollar during the coming months.” For some investors and analysts, the risk of politicized rate decisions is a cause for caution, even as others cheer the prospect of looser financial conditions.
But it’s not just the bond and currency markets that are watching Hassett’s rise with keen interest. The cryptocurrency world has been especially vocal about the potential for a "Hassett Fed" to reshape the landscape. According to Bloomberg and CoinDesk, Hassett’s background includes a stint as an adviser to Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, and he holds at least $1 million in Coinbase stock. He also led the White House digital asset working group, shaping pro-crypto regulatory policy. Bitwise senior investment strategist Juan Leon summed up the mood on X (formerly Twitter): “If Kevin Hassett becomes Fed Chair, the implications for crypto are strongly bullish.”
Leon described Hassett as an “aggressive ‘dove’ who has publicly criticized current rates for being too high and advocated for deeper, faster cuts,” and highlighted his leadership of the White House’s digital asset group. For many in the crypto industry, Hassett’s combination of macro dovishness and direct exposure to digital assets is seen as a powerful tailwind. At the time of reporting, the total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.96 trillion, with investors betting that easier money and friendlier regulation could fuel further gains.
Yet, the picture is more nuanced than a simple binary of "dovish equals crypto boom." As CoinDesk pointed out, much will depend on how Hassett’s approach interacts with the blueprint being sketched out by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bessent has openly questioned the Fed’s post-crisis operating framework, advocating for a “dovish FFR, hawkish balance sheet” approach—meaning lower policy rates, but less willingness to expand the Fed’s balance sheet through asset purchases. As Felix Jauvin, host of Forward Guidance, put it: “Bessent wants a fed chair that gets us out of balance sheet shenanigans and simplifying things to how they were pre-ample regime. Dovish FFR, hawkish balance sheet.”
For crypto and risk asset investors, this distinction matters. Rate cuts without a return to large-scale quantitative easing could support risk appetite and lower discount rates, but might not recreate the “everything rally” conditions of 2020–2021, when massive liquidity injections lifted all boats. The scale of any move in 2026, CoinDesk cautioned, will depend on “how aggressively a Hassett Fed actually cuts, how far Bessent is willing to go in shrinking or simplifying the balance sheet, and how markets reassess inflation, term premia and fiscal risk under a more overtly political central bank.”
Jerome Powell’s term as Fed Chair is set to conclude in May 2026, giving the next administration the chance to reshape the central bank’s leadership at a critical juncture for the U.S. and global economies. For now, the nomination remains unofficial—Trump is known for last-minute surprises, and the White House has not yet commented publicly. But with prediction markets and financial analysts increasingly convinced that Hassett is the man to beat, the financial world is bracing for a new era at the Federal Reserve—one that could see the central bank move faster and further in cutting rates, potentially transforming both traditional and digital markets in the process.
The coming months will reveal whether these expectations are realized, but one thing is clear: the prospect of Kevin Hassett at the helm of the Fed has already set off a wave of speculation and repositioning across the financial landscape.