Key Points
- Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and President-elect Trump’s Commerce Secretary nominee, plans a $2 billion Bitcoin lending project.
- The project, in collaboration with Tether, could potentially scale to tens of billions.
Howard Lutnick, the head of Cantor Fitzgerald, is preparing a significant project in the cryptocurrency sector.
Lutnick, who is also the nominee for Commerce Secretary under incoming President Trump, aims to launch a $2 billion initiative.
This initiative would offer dollar loans to clients, using Bitcoin as collateral.
Collaboration with Tether
As part of this ambitious project, Cantor Fitzgerald is set to collaborate with Tether.
Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, would provide financial support for the initiative.
According to reports, this program has the potential to scale up to tens of billions.
Cantor Fitzgerald is currently Tether’s custody provider for billions in U.S. Treasuries that back the USDT stablecoin.
It’s also been revealed that Cantor has acquired a 5% ownership stake in Tether, worth around $600 million.
Lutnick’s Transition and Tether’s Challenges
While preparations for the lending program are underway, formal operations have not yet started.
As Lutnick gets ready to move to the Commerce Department, he plans to hand over the management of the firm’s relationship with Tether to his colleagues.
His son, Brandon Lutnick, who has previously interned at Tether’s office in Switzerland, is currently a trader at Cantor.
This comes as Trump’s transition team is considering the creation of a new White House position for crypto policy.
However, Tether continues to face regulatory scrutiny over allegations of potential sanctions violations and anti-money laundering concerns, which the company denies.
Despite these issues, USDT remains the largest stablecoin, boasting a market cap of over $132 billion.
It’s worth noting that Trump and Lutnick share a long-standing professional and friendly relationship, largely due to their mutual involvement in finance and real estate.
In the past, Lutnick has hosted fundraisers for Trump during his presidential campaign.
