President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to be the new chair of the Federal Reserve.
The President confirmed his pick in a post on Truth Social on Friday to replace the incumbent Jerome Powell when his term ends in May.
Warsh served on the U.S. central bank’s Board of Governors between 2006 and 2011, the youngest person to ever do so.
He was considered the frontrunner to be Trump’s pick, something which may have played a part in bitcoin’s dive to nearly $81,000 late Thursday, as odds of Warsh’s nomination spiked on betting sites.
Warsh was an investor in a cryptocurrency project called Basis, which described itself as an algorithmic central bank. He has also served as an adviser for Electric Capital, a VC firm focused on crypto, blockchain and fintech.
However, his appointment his considered by some to be bearish for risk assets such as BTC given his emphasis on monetary discipline, which could mean higher real interest rates.
Bitcoin enjoyed a brief 0.7% lift immediately after Trump’s announcement before returning to the $82,600 mark it sat at previously, according to CoinDesk data.
UPDATE (Jan. 30, 12:25 UTC): Adds more detail and context throughout.