Original Title: “Who is Rick Rieder, the Final Candidate on the Fed Chair Shortlist, and What is His Stance on Crypto?”
Author: CryptoLeo, Odaily Planet Daily
The full list of candidates for the Federal Reserve Chair was finalized yesterday. Yesterday, Trump announced that he would interview Rick Rieder, Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income at Blackrock, on Thursday to evaluate him as a potential candidate for the next Federal Reserve Chair. This will be the fourth and final interview for the candidate who will replace Fed Chair Powell. In addition to Rieder, the final shortlist includes former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh, Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett, and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller. Trump stated that he will make his final decision in January.
Among the four candidates, everyone should be relatively familiar with the other three except Rieder. Odaily has previously written articles about the other candidates, and today we will introduce this potential Federal Reserve Chair candidate.
A ‘Veteran of Blackrock’ Deeply Rooted in Fixed Income
Rieder was born in October 1961. According to LinkedIn, Rieder attended Emory University and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Finance from Emory University in 1983 and an MBA from Wharton in 1987.
After graduation, Rieder worked at Lehman Brothers for over 20 years, from 1987 to 2008, holding senior positions such as Head of Global Credit and Head of the Global Principal Strategies team.
Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, Rieder founded R3 Capital (focused primarily on multi-strategy credit investments) and served as its CEO. The firm was acquired by Blackrock in 2009. In other words, Rick Rieder joined Blackrock along with his startup, becoming a Managing Director at Blackrock and leading the Fixed Income Alternatives Portfolio Team.
To date, Rieder has been with Blackrock for 17 years. He currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, Head of Fundamental Fixed Income, and Head of the Global Allocation Investment Team. Rieder oversees the management of trillions of dollars in assets and is a member of Blackrock’s Global Executive Committee (GEC) and its GEC Investment Subcommittee. He also chairs the company-level Blackrock Investment Committee. Currently, he is also a member of the Alphabet/Google Investment Advisory Board and the UBS Group Research Advisory Board.
Notably, Rieder also served as Vice Chairman of the U.S. Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee and as a member of the Federal Reserve's Financial Markets Investment Advisory Committee.
What sets Rieder apart from other candidates?
Compared to the other three candidates, Rieder has less experience working in U.S. government-related roles. However, what makes him particularly noteworthy for the cryptocurrency industry is that Rieder is a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies. In recent years, Rieder has repeatedly expressed positive views on cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, in public forums, transitioning from an initially cautious stance to recognizing Bitcoin's investment value as a durable and hard asset. Below are some of his publicly stated views on cryptocurrencies:
November 2020: Rieder commented on CNBC that digital payment systems are real, and cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Bitcoin's mechanism offers durability, enhanced functionality, and greater traceability, making it largely capable of replacing gold, especially given the high acceptance of digital payments among millennials.
2021: During an interview with CNBC, Rieder stated that Bitcoin is a durable asset and will remain a part of the investment landscape for the long term. BlackRock has begun "small-scale involvement." Although Bitcoin faces challenges such as high volatility and regulatory scrutiny, these issues will be overcome over time.
Additionally, Rieder mentioned that he personally holds Bitcoin but did not disclose the amount. He believes that Bitcoin will significantly increase in value and considers holding Bitcoin as a speculative tool to offer high returns.
2022: In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Rieder compared the crypto market crash to the early days of the internet. He maintained that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are durable assets, but excessive investments surrounding them led to the crash, which serves as a recalibration for the industry by eliminating some over-leveraged positions. Once the market stabilizes, he remains optimistic in the long term, stating, "In just two to three years, the crypto market will be higher than it is today."
September 2025: During an interview with CNBC, Rieder stated that an ideal investment portfolio should include "hard assets" like gold and Bitcoin to hedge against fiat currency depreciation. Rieder noted that BlackRock allocates 3–5% to gold but invests "far less" in cryptocurrencies. While he believes Bitcoin will rise in value, a 5% allocation seems excessive.
The evolution of his public statements indicates that, from an investment professional's perspective, Rieder is optimistic about Bitcoin and affirms its long-term value. Holding Bitcoin as an institutional investment is also considered a sound strategy.
What impact would Rieder's election have on the cryptocurrency sector?
Between 2020 and 2025, Rieder frequently evaluated Bitcoin from the perspectives of institutional portfolios, macro hedging (such as inflation resistance and fiat currency depreciation), and liquidity. Now that he has been named a candidate for Federal Reserve Chair, his remarks deserve renewed attention. Compared to the other candidates, Rieder is unequivocally pro-cryptocurrency. If elected as Federal Reserve Chair, his policies would indirectly bring significant benefits to the cryptocurrency industry:
1. Macroeconomic policy calls for significant interest rate cuts.
Rieder has consistently advocated for a reduction in interest rates to 3% in recent months, which implies a decrease of at least 50 basis points from the current level. Rieder stated: "My stance has been very clear over the past several months. The Federal Reserve must lower interest rates, and I believe it does not need to be a large reduction; ultimately, reaching 3% would suffice – a level closer to the neutral rate."
Moreover, Rieder emphasized that whoever assumes the position of Fed Chair, the entire Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will base its analysis and evaluations on economic data before making appropriate decisions.
2. From a professional perspective, more institutions are entering the market.
As Blackrock’s Global Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income, Rieder began leading and promoting Blackrock's allocation into Bitcoin futures as early as 2021. Subsequently, the launch of IBIT was highly successful. Rieder’s investment track record is verifiable, and if he were to become the Fed Chair, his pro-crypto stance would attract more institutional investors into the market.
3. From a personal perspective, he is optimistic about cryptocurrency and its development.
Although Rieder has not publicly disclosed his Bitcoin holdings, Blackrock’s progression from early Bitcoin futures to crypto ETFs demonstrates that Rieder is not merely paying lip service. He strongly believes in the long-term value of Bitcoin, emphasizing its "upside convexity," which can amplify crypto returns in a loose monetary environment.
Furthermore, as a professional fixed-income analyst, Rieder seeks yields in high-interest/volatile environments, areas where the crypto market excels. He is highly likely to promote the tokenization of assets, stablecoins, and developments in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector within the crypto industry.
As of this writing, Polymarket data shows that Kevin Warsh’s probability of becoming the Fed Chair is currently at 40% (up 6%), Kevin Hassett’s at 38% (up 7%), Christopher Waller’s at 9% (down 9%), and Rick Rieder’s chances are the lowest, currently at 7% (up 6%). Although Rieder’s odds are lower compared to Warsh and Hassett, they have risen by six percentage points, putting him close to surpassing Waller.
Additionally, if Trump selects a candidate who is not currently a member of the Federal Reserve Board, that person must first join the board. For Rieder, if he is to assume the role of Chair, he would need to be nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate to become a member of the Federal Reserve Board – a process that could take several months before becoming Chair.
The specific outcome will depend on the situation after his meeting with Trump and Bessent on Thursday.
Editor/Doris
