Rumors of personnel changes at the Federal Reserve have once again unsettled the markets. According to reports, Trump may nominate Hassett to replace Powell as the Chairman of the Fed, a signal that has caused subtle shifts in the landscape of traditional safe-haven assets.

Who is Hassett? He previously served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration and is known for advocating loose monetary policies. The market widely expects that if he does take the helm at the Fed, the pace of rate cuts could become even more aggressive than it is now. The issue is, with U.S. Treasury yields already dropping to around 4.38% due to uncertainty over tariff policies, adding expectations of even looser monetary policy could further weaken the appeal of U.S. Treasuries.

Interestingly, the recent performance of U.S. Treasuries has indeed been somewhat “unusual.” Normally, during market turmoil, funds would flow into U.S. Treasuries as a safe haven, but this time there has been a wave of selling—instead, capital has flowed into gold and certain crypto assets. Although Bitcoin was also affected, briefly dropping below $84,000 with total liquidations across the network nearing $985 million, fund flows indicate that the crypto market still attracted some capital seeking alternative safe-haven tools.

Why is this happening? The core reason may lie in fluctuations in the credibility of the U.S. dollar. Tariff policies have injected uncertainty into global trade order, calling into question the stability of the dollar as a reserve currency, which in turn shakes the “risk-free asset” label of U.S. Treasuries. Meanwhile, German bonds and some Asian currency assets have shown relatively more appeal. Even Hassett himself has publicly stated that, in the current environment, gold's safe-haven attributes might surpass those of U.S. Treasuries—a statement that carries a touch of irony coming from him.

So what should ordinary investors do?

First, don’t over-concentrate your funds in a single asset. Diversifying appropriately among cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and bonds can reduce systemic risk. Second, closely monitor the Fed’s policy direction. If Hassett does take office, the timing of a monetary policy shift could come earlier than the market currently expects. Third, don’t be frightened by short-term volatility. While the safe-haven function of U.S. Treasuries is temporarily being challenged, the underlying technological innovation in the crypto market and the long-term logic of decentralized finance development have not changed.

The restructuring of the safe-haven asset landscape is essentially the market’s reassessment of the risk pricing system. Short-term turbulence is inevitable, but panic-driven operations are often the least rational choice. Stay calm, allocate assets wisely, and understand policy logic to stand firm during this market shakeout. Remember, investing has never been about luck, but about depth of understanding and risk management capability.