Trump's pick to lead the Fed is a crypto degen worth over $130m

A new financial disclosure from Kevin Warsh has revealed over two dozen investments in crypto startups and a broader financial portfolio worth more than $130 million.

In January, Warsh, a financier and former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, was nominated by US President Donald Trump to replace Jerome Powell when his term as Fed Chair ends in May. He is seen as pro-crypto and has repeatedly spoken highly of Bitcoin, which has seen the industry celebrate his nomination.

The new disclosures add to that image.

Warsh’s many crypto investments

The Tuesday filing, a mandatory ethics and vetting requirement for presidential nominees to high-level positions, lists all of Warsh’s investments, employment agreements and other forms of income.

A DL News analysis identified some 30 investments in crypto-related companies, although for some it isn’t clear if Warsh invested in the company itself or its related crypto token.

Many of the crypto investments appear to be small venture bets on blockchain infrastructure and payments firms. Warsh has also invested in multiple companies focused on non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

Put together, they reveal Warsh’s deep connections in the crypto industry, which granted him the opportunity to invest early in many of its most hyped companies and projects.

To be sure, Warsh’s crypto investments are just one part of a vast financial portfolio. His investments also include bets on several emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, gene editing, aerospace, and even a “robotic coffee bar platform.”

DeFi and blockchains

Warsh’s investments in decentralised finance and blockchain companies make up the biggest chunk of his crypto portfolio.

He’s thrown money at DeFi lender Compound, derivatives trading platforms dYdX and Lighter, as well as four blockchains: Solana, Optimism, Blast, and Zero Gravity, a blockchain focused on AI agents.

There are also investments in multiple infrastructure development firms, including Tenderly, an Ethereum developer platform, and OneSafe, a DeFi data infrastructure provider.

Warsh also invested in Render, a decentralised network that operates a peer-to-peer market for computing power, and Eulith, an institution-focused DeFi platform for onchain trading.

While some of these projects, like Solana, have returned many multiples to investors, others haven’t fared as well.

Blast, a once-promising Ethereum layer 2 blockchain with some $2.6 billion in deposits, now has just $80 million deposited to its DeFi apps — a 96% decline.

Venture and investing

Warsh has also shuffled money into several crypto-focused venture investment firms.

The biggest of which is San Francisco-based Polychain, founded by Olaf Carlson-Wee in 2016. The firm was an early investor in many successful crypto projects, including blockchains Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche, as well as DeFi protocols Uniswap, Maple Finance, and Compound.

Warsh also invested in Scalar Capital, a smaller San Francisco-based crypto hedge fund founded in 2017 by ex-Coinbase employees Linda Xie and Jordan Clifford. Scalar wasn’t as successful as Polychain, and stopped making new investments in 2023.

Perhaps one of Warsh’s most unorthodox investments is in CreatorDAO, a venture-style platform that invests in creators and their intellectual property.

The project raised $20 million in a high-profile 2022 seed round led by a16z crypto and Initialized Capital, with angel investments from Paris Hilton and electronic music duo The Chainsmokers.

Since its launch, the project has struggled to find commercial success. Its Creator token is down some 95% from its all-time high.

Payments

Payments apps make up a small but significant chunk of Warsh’s crypto portfolio.

His most high-profile investment in this area is Lightning Network, a protocol built on top of Bitcoin designed to help the network function more like a payments app.

Early investors in the network’s developer, Lightning Labs, include Jack Dorsey, venture firm M13, Electric Capital, and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev.

Warsh also invested in Lemon Cash, a popular Latin American fintech app that lets users buy, sell, and store crypto. Its key feature is a Visa card that allows users to spend crypto.

NFTs

NFTs and social media projects are out of fashion in the crypto industry right now. But Warsh appears to have been a big believer in these trends when they were in vogue.

He holds investments in several NFT-focused companies, including Dapper Labs, the firm behind Basketball NFT collectibles platform NBA Top Shot; Crossmint, an NFT developer tools platform; and Match Day, another sports NFT collectibles platform.

NFTs were among the most explosive trends in the industry in 2021, with over $44 billion sent to NFT-related smart contracts on Ethereum alone, according to Chainalysis, a crypto security firm.

Investor interest in NFTs has since plummeted, however. NFT trading volume across all blockchains sank to around $5.6 billion in 2025, according to data from CryptoSlam.

Dapper Labs, one of several firms at the epicentre of the bygone trend, has struggled in recent years. It has navigated several rounds of layoffs, and in February settled a class action lawsuit that alleged the firm shared the private information of customers without their consent.

Crypto and social media

The intersection of crypto and social media is another area Warsh invested in.

He holds a stake in DeSo, a blockchain designed to decentralise social media and enable user-owned content founded by Nader Al-Naji in 2019.

Al-Naji was charged by the US Securities and Exchanges Commission and the Department of Justice in July 2024 for fraud and selling unregistered securities, with accusations that he misused $7 million in investor funds for personal luxury expenses. The charges were dismissed in March.

Warsh also invested in Friends With Benefits, a token-gated platform that functions as an exclusive social club for crypto industry socialites.

The platform is still active as of 2026, but has significantly cooled off from its 2021 to 2022 heyday.

The Friends With Benefits token, used to access the community, is down 99% from its all-time high.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.