Trump picks crypto-friendly economist Stephen Miran for Federal Reserve board seat

President Donald Trump has picked crypto-friendly Stephen Miran to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

"He has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled — He will do an outstanding job," Trump said on Thursday in a post on Truth Social.

Miran will serve a recently vacated seat until Jan. 31, 2026, on the central bank, which was previously held by Adriana Kugler. Kugler announced her resignation last week and said she would be returning to Georgetown University as a professor in the fall.

Miran, who is currently chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, has suggested that crypto regulations need to be streamlined.

"I never cease to marvel at what fraction of 'innovation' in recent decades is simply due to circumventing regulations.  Uber, crypto, Airbnb…" Miran said in November 2023 in response to news that Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was stepping down.

Zhao pleaded guilty in November 2023 and agreed to pay $4 billion to resolve the matter after the Justice Department found that Binance violated anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, among others. The DOJ said Binance deliberately ignored U.S. rules.

"And while binance did some evil shit (helping finance Iran, Hamas), maybe we should actually streamline a lot of regulations," Miran said in the post on X.

Miran was also a senior strategist at Hudson Bay, an investment firm that has been trading claims in the FTX bankruptcy, which filed for bankruptcy in late 2022. The exchange's CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty in November 2023 of seven criminal counts, including two counts each of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and was sentenced to nearly 25 years in prison.

Miran has also held positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Fidelity Investments, according to his LinkedIn. 

Miran has also reportedly criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, with whom Trump has been in a public spat over the past several weeks over interest rates.