Crypto Welcomes a New Ally: Who Is Trump's Nominee for US Commerce Secretary, Lutnick?

Original Title: "Crypto Ally, 9/11 Survivor... Who Is Trump's Nominee for Commerce Secretary, Lutnick?"

Original Source: BitpushNews

On November 19th local time, President Trump nominated billionaire investor and veteran Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick to serve as the next Secretary of Commerce.

In a statement, Trump said, "I am pleased to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my administration as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He will lead our tariff and trade agenda and be directly responsible for the U.S. Trade Representative's Office."

If confirmed by the Senate, Lutnick will be tasked with expanding U.S. economic growth and promoting domestic industries, helping to maintain and enhance the government's relationship with the business community. The Department of Commerce and other agencies will play a key role in implementing the President-elect's proposals to impose tariffs on imported goods into the U.S.

The 63-year-old Lutnick, who is the Joint Chair of Trump's transition team, is a financial mogul who led his company's rebirth from the ashes of 9/11 and is arguably one of the most legendary members of Trump's inner circle.

Wall Street's "Tragic" Spokesperson: Orphaned at a Young Age, Company Nearly "Wiped Out" in 9/11

Lutnick, born into an artistically inclined family, tragically lost his mother to lymphoma when he was a high school junior. Shortly after starting his freshman year of college, his father died in a medical accident. At the age of 18, Lutnick was forced to hire a lawyer to settle his father's debts, and he relied on scholarships to complete his education while caring for his siblings.

Wall Street—the financial arena full of opportunities and challenges—became the stage where Lutnick embarked on his second life. Despite his youth and inexperience, he quickly gained the favor of Cantor Fitzgerald's boss, was entrusted with significant responsibilities, and rose through the ranks to become the undisputed successor. At the age of 30, he was appointed as the company's President and CEO.

However, fate's twists were far from over.

On September 11, 2001, as Lutnick was preparing to take his son to preschool and capture a precious moment in a photograph, a tragic news reached him: terrorists had piloted planes into the Twin Towers where his brother, Gary Lutnick, and two-thirds of the employees (658 individuals) lost their lives.

Before the attack, Cantor already held nearly a quarter of the market share in the U.S. Treasury market. Lutnick vowed to revitalize the company and, with the help of the London office, Cantor rebuilt its electronic infrastructure and restored trading within a week with the remaining staff.

Reflecting on the events, Lutnick recalled in an NPR interview that on the evening of 9/11, he told the remaining employees, "If we're going in, we're going in to take care of our friends' families. We went from a company that made a million dollars a day to a company that lost a million dollars a day."

One week after the events, Lutnick established the non-profit Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund and pledged to distribute 25% of the company's profits over the next five years to cover the healthcare costs for ten years for the families of its 658 former Cantor Fitzgerald, eSpeed, and TradeSpark employees (profits that would have originally gone to Cantor Fitzgerald partners).

According to data from The New York Times, the fund was initially seeded with a $1 million donation from Lutnick himself. To date, the fund has donated around $180 million to employees' families, totaling approximately $280 million in donations.

Lutnick and Cantor became one of Wall Street's most inspiring stories. Trump referenced his brother's passing in his nomination for Secretary of Commerce, calling Lutnick "a symbol of unwavering resilience in the face of unspeakable grief."

BTC Enthusiast + Tether Partner

Lutnick is a prominent supporter in the cryptocurrency industry. He declared in a CNBC interview, "I'm a fan of cryptocurrency, but let me be more specific: Bitcoin, it's Bitcoin."

In 2020, after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released new rules on digital asset custody and settlement, Lutnick keenly saw a business opportunity within. He promptly met with Tether's Chief Financial Officer Giancarlo Devasini to strategize the company's expansion into the digital asset space.

Starting in 2021, Cantor assisted Tether in managing a significant amount of U.S. Treasury holdings to back its USDT stablecoin.

He expressed at a Bitcoin conference, "I knew nothing about digital assets at the time, and I was looking for opportunities to meet with all the important people."

Lutnick said, "Bitcoin should trade freely around the world like gold. As the largest steward in the world, we will do everything in our power to make this happen. Bitcoin should be able to be traded globally like gold, with no exceptions, no restrictions."

Endorsement from Musk

Musk and other Trump insiders called last week for Trump to abandon his former Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent and instead support Lutnick. Musk stated in a post, "Bessent is a conventional choice, while Lutnick will truly drive change."

The Treasury Secretary position has been a focal point of intense competition within the Trump team. At the same time, this position has also been closely watched by the financial sector, as an unexpected nominee could have a direct negative impact on the stock market. Trump has yet to make decisions on the remaining key positions in his proposed cabinet.

The main remaining candidates for this position are Bessent, former Federal Reserve Board Governor Kevin Warsh, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, and Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty.

Strong Supporter of Trump's Tariff Plan

According to OpenSecrets.org, Lutnick had previously donated to politicians from both parties, including Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. However, in recent years, he has become a major donor to the Republican Party, donating millions to Trump's campaign and hosting a $15 million fundraising event at his Hamptons home earlier this summer.

During his campaign, Trump proposed a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a maximum 20% tariff on all other goods imported into the United States. He portrayed the import tax as a negotiating tool to secure better trade terms and as a way to generate revenue to fund tax cuts elsewhere.

As an advocate for tariffs, Lutnick expressed full support for Trump's tariff plan in a CNBC interview in September. He stated, "Tariffs are a great tool the president has at his disposal—we need to protect American workers."

At a Madison Square Garden rally last month, Lutnick outlined his vision to reshape the American economy—returning to the "prosperous times" of the 1900s. He preached to the crowd, saying, "When has America truly been great? At the turn of the century, our economy was booming, we had no income tax, only tariffs."

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