Overview
- Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, heads to a Senate Banking Committee hearing with a 69-page financial disclosure that lists crypto-linked holdings he says he will sell if confirmed.
- Reporting indicates he prefers tighter settings and a smaller Fed balance sheet, which means holding fewer bonds, draining cash from markets, and likely pushing interest rates higher.
- Bitcoin fell when his odds of becoming chair rose, as traders expected less market liquidity, even though his disclosure showed ties to ventures like Polymarket that he pledged to divest.
- Senator Thom Tillis says he may block consideration until an investigation into Chair Jerome Powell is resolved, raising doubts about the confirmation timeline and the Fed’s independence.
- The policy backdrop features stubborn inflation pressures from tariffs, stricter immigration, and Middle East conflict, while President Trump urges much lower rates, a clash that will touch mortgage payments, car loans, and savings yields.