Senate confirms Kevin Warsh to Fed board — Chair vote expected Wednesday!

The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in a 51-45 vote, with Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat crossing the aisle. A separate Senate vote to install Warsh as Fed chair is expected Wednesday, just ahead of Jerome Powell's eight-year term expiring Friday. Powell has indicated he will remain on the board while a federal probe into Fed headquarters renovations runs its course.

Warsh, 56 and a former Morgan Stanley banker, arrives at a charged moment: renewed inflation concerns tied to the war in Iran and rising energy prices are already testing investor expectations on rate policy. His financial disclosures revealed holdings in blockchain and digital asset firms spanning Bitcoin infrastructure, Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, DeFi, crypto payments, and prediction markets — most of which he has pledged to divest.

For crypto markets,…