Fed Chair Jerome Powell doesn’t look untouchable anymore.
And I don’t say that lightly. Fed chairs usually weather political storms and almost always finish their terms.
But this time feels different.
Powell is under growing pressure today from multiple directions. A Justice Department investigation into the Fed’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation has turned into a political lightning rod. And Trump’s allies are openly questioning Powell’s resistance to aggressive rate cuts.
As inflation cools and growth slows, the argument that Powell is too cautious is getting louder.
And that chatter could matter far more than most investors realize.
Because one of the names now circulating as a potential replacement for Powelll is BlackRock’s Rick Rieder.
And if he’s confirmed, it could turn into one of the most consequential decisions for crypto markets in years.
A New Lens on Bitcoin
Rick Rieder is not a traditional central banker.
Image: BlackRock
At BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $12 trillion under management, Rieder has spent decades as Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, connecting big economic policy with real-world investing decisions.
What sets Rieder apart is his early and vocal embrace of bitcoin as a strategic allocation.
In our Next Wave Crypto Fortunes webinar last week, I reminded readers that Rieder was one of the first major institutional strategists to publicly put bitcoin into portfolios starting with a small allocation and actively encouraging others to consider exposure.
BlackRock’s own research shows that a modest Bitcoin position, around 1% to 2%, can help diversify a portfolio and improve returns without taking on excessive risk. And in late 2025, the company was recommending that investors add gold and bitcoin to traditional portfolios, while keeping the bulk of their money in stocks and income assets.
Rieder’s team pointed out that bitcoin’s returns, especially compared with stocks and bonds, made a small allocation worth serious consideration.
This is something I’ve been pounding the table about for years.
Modern Portfolio Theory, or MPT, has guided institutional investing for decades. The idea is simple. Portfolios work better when they hold assets that don’t all rise and fall at the same time.
But stocks and bonds can only take a portfolio so far. Adding other assets can help improve performance while keeping risk under control.
That’s where bitcoin fits in.
For much of the past decade, bitcoin has moved on its own path. At times, it has had little connection to what stocks and bonds were doing, especially before large institutions stepped in.
That kind of independence is exactly what diversification is meant to capture.
Bitcoin is also different in how it delivers returns. There’s no question that it can be volatile. But when it takes-off, the gains can be much larger than what most traditional assets deliver..
When kept to a small size, that upside can lift an entire portfolio without adding a ton of risk. That’s why more professional investors today are taking bitcoin seriously as an allocation.
Institutional vehicles like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and others allow investors to access bitcoin through regular investment accounts, using the same systems they already know.
And if Rieder becomes Fed Chair, bitcoin’s move into the mainstream would continue to accelerate.
Of course, Powell isn’t gone yet. The Supreme Court has signaled doubt about removing top Fed officials, acknowledging the Fed’s “uniquely structured” independence.
And there’s a good reason for it. Powell’s legal fight and support from leaders around the world show why an independent Fed is important for stable prices and markets.
But markets are already pricing in the possibility that Trump will want a more dovish, markets-friendly chair who leans into growth and risk assets.
Rieder’s candidacy has gained traction, including reportedly successful interviews with Trump’s team, suggesting he isn’t a long-shot pick.
That’s why I’m paying close attention to this story.
Here’s My Take
If Rick Rieder becomes Fed Chair, I wouldn’t expect the Fed to suddenly endorse bitcoin. That’s not how this works.
But leadership sets the tone, and tone shapes behavior.
A Fed chair who understands bitcoin as an allocatable asset is very different from one who sees it only as a regulatory problem. And Rieder already views bitcoin the way institutions evaluate assets, through the lens of diversification and risk math.
That’s the same case I’ve been making for years.
Bitcoin isn’t just a speculative asset anymore. It’s moving into the mainstream of portfolio construction.
If Rieder were to take the job, that shift could gain even more momentum. Bitcoin would be further legitimized as a diversification tool, opening the door to demand from pensions, endowments, and sovereign funds that have stayed on the sidelines thus far.
And even if Rieder doesn’t get the job, one thing is clear.
Bitcoin is now inside the system.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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