Crypto Hiring: Industry waits for more Trump appointments

Though not the type of crypto hire we typically cover in these roundups, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the Department of Commerce this week.

We highlighted Lutnick’s remarks on bitcoin in a September edition of the Forward Guidance newsletter. At the time, the CEO noted that traditional finance players — including banks and brokerages — would “go headfirst into bitcoin” when the regulatory environment improved. 

Trump’s election win has seemed to set the stage for that, given the crypto promises he has made (namely, “firing” Securities and Exchange Chair Gary Gensler).

Read more: Trump nominates pro-crypto CEO to lead commerce department

Lutnick said in a September X video that bitcoin adoption will proliferate once banks can more freely clear, custody and transact in bitcoin — a reality hindered by the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121.

Lutnick’s firm has stablecoin issuer Tether as a client — a company that has denied being under federal investigation.

Speaking of Trump appointments, reports surfaced this week of him potentially selecting a crypto czar and forming a crypto council that could be housed under the White House’s National Economic Council.

Still, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said she is watching out for who could fill two other roles.

Gensler said this week he would step down from his SEC chair post on Jan. 20. 

Read more: Changes at the SEC start well ahead of Inauguration Day

As for a crypto firm adding an executive, bitcoin infrastructure technology Blockstream appointed hedge fund veteran Sean Bill as its chief investment officer. 

Bill, who was most recently CIO of Prime Meridian Capital Management, is set to lead Blockstream’s newly created asset management division.

The firm’s bitcoin financial products in development include a bitcoin yield fund (aiming to function like a money market fund for BTC holders) and a USD yield fund (providing lending opportunities that generate income through bitcoin-backed loans).  

In other soon-to-be hiring news, Wintermute Asia is set to double its headcount in the Asia Pacific region upon establishing a new headquarters in Singapore, the company said earlier this week. 

The digital asset derivatives trading arm of Wintermute Group said Monday it is “actively hiring for top-of-the-funnel roles that are critical to scaling its operations.”

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