Bitcoin and crypto prices have surged into 2026, with bitcoin nearing $100,000 and adding 10% since its December lows (just as Bank of America’s chief executive issues a huge $6 trillion crypto warning).
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The bitcoin price remains well below its October peak of $126,000, however, even as traders bet on a 2026 Federal Reserve flip.
Now, as Goldman Sachs says a major catalyst could be about to ignite the market, U.S. president Donald Trump has said the dovish economic adviser Kevin Hassett is unlikely to be named as the new Fed chair—a blow to the burgeoning bitcoin price rally.
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U.S. president Donald Trump has said Federal Reserve chair front-runner Kevin Hassett is unlikely to be named to the role, something that could cause a bitcoin price shock.
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“Kevin Hassett is so good … if I move him, I would lose you. It’s a serious concern to me,” Trump said during an event at the White House in comments reported by Reuters.
“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said, sending the Polymarket odds of Hassett being named as Fed chair Jerome Powell’s replacement sharply lower and boosting his rival, the former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to almost 60%.
Trump has repeatedly signalled he would name Hassett as the new Fed chair in recent months, with Hassett’s odds hitting almost 90% on Polymarket in December.
Later, at another event in Florida, Trump said he’d made his decision on who to nominate for Fed chair. “In my mind, done,” he said in comments reported by the Financial Times.
While Warsh has invested in crypto companies and is an advisor to the institutional crypto bank Anchorage, he’s seen as a less dovish than Hassett, meaning interest rates may stay higher for longer if he’s revealed as Trump’s pick.
Expectations that interest rates may fall sharply in 2026 once Trump replaces Powell have supported bitcoin, crypto and equity markets in recent months.
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The bitcoin price has bounced back from its December lows, climbing toward $100,000 per bitcoin as traders brace for Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve chair reveal.
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Hassett would have been “more dovish than Kevin Warsh and therefore more supportive for crypto,” Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at Nansen, said in emailed comments.
Earlier this week, Trump revealed he’s inclined to nominate either Hassett or Warsh as Powell’s replacement in a Reuters interview.
“The two Kevins are very good,” Trump said. “You have some other good people too, but I’ll be announcing something over the next couple of weeks.”