Prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry are putting pressure on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to take immediate steps to fulfill his campaign promises once he returns to the White House in January.
Trump is reportedly planning to deliver a flurry of executive orders on his first day in office, Reuters said. He’ll take over from incumbent President Joe Biden on Jan. 20, and he’s expected to issue orders and directives covering a range of issues, from immigration to energy. Now, crypto industry officials are pushing him to add digital assets to that list.
During his election campaign, Trump courted crypto fans with the promise of a much friendlier regulatory regime, saying that he would embrace digital assets and even create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Crypto industry figures want him to make good on that pledge with an executive order, which they believe would encourage U.S. banks to provide more financial services to crypto companies.
They also want Trump to issue an order regarding his plans for a national bitcoin stockpile and the creation of a “crypto council,” Reuters reported.
The aim is to pressure Trump to take concrete action within his first 100 days in office, and two anonymous sources told Reuters that they believe he could issue at least one order on Jan. 20.
Trump’s stance on crypto is in direct contrast to the hostile policies initiated by the White House during Biden’s presidency. Given concerns about crime, security and price volatility, U.S. regulators have cracked down heavily on crypto companies, ostensibly to protect consumers.
However, that has simply encouraged crypto firms to set themselves up in more welcoming countries with friendlier crypto policies, and critics say the approach risks leaving the U.S. behind. Trump has promised to reverse course, and he has already established the beginnings of a crypto policy team, naming the crypto-friendly Paul Atkins as new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and David Sacks as his “crypto czar.”
Polygon Labs Inc. Chief Legal and Policy Officer Rebecca Rettig told Reuters that it’s imperative that Trump’s first executive orders “set out what the actual priorities will be on day one and provide some kind of roadmap.”
The price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has surged since Trump’s election win in October, reflecting the industry’s optimism over his presidency. Bitcoin hit a new record high value of $107,000 earlier this month, though its price has since dropped back below $100,000.
Analysts told Reuters it’s not clear if Trump would be able to create a national bitcoin reserve using his executive powers. Some say he could potentially do so through the Treasury Department, while others argue that an act of Congress would be required.
Nonetheless, an advocacy group called the Bitcoin Policy Institute has already gone and created a draft text of an executive order that it says Trump could use to create such a stockpile. According to Reuters, the draft suggests designating bitcoin as a “strategic reserve asset” and requiring the Treasury Department to spend $21 billion a year on accumulating the cryptocurrency.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute’s head of policy Zack Shapiro told Reuters that the U.S. needs to move first and start buying up bitcoin, before its price runs up without it having any reserves.
Besides creating a national bitcoin reserve, Trump has pledged to stop U.S. banks from “choking” crypto companies by refusing to provide them with traditional financial services. The crypto industry wants him to issue an executive order to address this problem too. Reuters says such an order would send a signal to banks and provide them with political cover, though legally it wouldn’t have any force because of the independence of banking industry regulators.
Trump has also promised to create a “crypto industry council” that will be led by his crypto czar, and there is a precedent for similar bodies created through executive orders. In addition, the industry hopes he’ll use his executive powers to articulate core principles for crypto regulation, similar to an order he issued in 2017 that directed banking regulators to review existing rules.
Image: News/Freepik AI
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