Polymarket data shows that the probability of Howard Lutnick being appointed by Trump as U.S. Treasury Secretary has risen to 49%, while the probability of Scott Bessent being appointed is 43%, with a total bet of more than $1 million. Lutnick's chances of winning were around 20% for most of last Saturday, but his chances of winning surged in the early hours of last Sunday as Trump posted in support of Lutnick.
Scott Bessent is an American investor and hedge fund manager who was once the chief investor of liberal mega-donor George Soros. According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump called Bessent "one of the smartest people on Wall Street" and met with Bessent at Mar-a-Lago in Florida last Friday.
Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, is a Bitcoin advocate whose company is the custodian of Tether's billions of dollars in reserves. The New York Times reported that several leading cryptocurrency executives, including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Circle executives, have contacted Trump's transition team and may be lobbying for Lutnick's appointment. (The Block) Yesterday, Elon Musk posted on X that Scott Bessent is a "business as usual" choice, and if Howard Lutnick is elected as US Treasury Secretary, he will "really drive change." "Business as usual" is causing the United States to go bankrupt, so we need change.