The crypto order creates a working group to advise the White House on digital asset policies and will include the involvement of key federal agencies, like the Treasury Department, Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The group will be tasked with submitting a report to the president within approximately six months recommending a regulatory framework and legislative proposals, including evaluating the creation of a digital asset stockpile.
“It absolutely changes the fundamentals on the ground,” said Kara Calvert, vice president for US policy at Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest US crypto exchange. “You have a president who embraces digital assets and created an advisory council that recognizes the need for non-government expertise. That’s really exciting.”
Still, the order was met with a mixed reaction elsewhere in the crypto community. Bitcoin proponents express disappointment that the order didn’t specify that the largest cryptocurrency would be at the centre of a national reserve as many had speculated. Trump had endorsed the idea on the campaign trail.
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“What crypto twitter wanted is very different from what reality is,” said Zaheer Ebtikar, founder of crypto fund Split Capital. “If you think about it, even buying one Bitcoin by the US government will be extremely reflective because all other governments will follow and buy it. Evaluating a potential national digital asset stockpile is as optimistic as real news could be.”
Bitcoin dropped around 1% to US$102,750 ($138,675.51) after the executive actions were disclosed. The original digital currency, which accounts for more than half the crypto’s market value, has surged more than 50% since Trump was elected.
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Sacks noted that the group would “make America the world capital on crypto under your leadership,” he said in a nod to Trump.
He added that the artificial intelligence action would allow the US to “dominate and to lead the world in AI.”
“You find them exciting? They might not be, except they’re going to make a lot of money for the country,” Trump said about the actions.
Trump’s order is a significant step toward fulfilling his campaign promises to be an advocate for the burgeoning crypto industry. On the trail, he vowed to streamline regulations, pick crypto-friendly figures to oversee the industry, support a stablecoin framework and establish a Bitcoin stockpile. He’s already made good on some of these promises, such as picking many crypto-friendly agency heads.
He’s also pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who created the notorious website Silk Road that sold illegal drugs using Bitcoin — a move that had a lot of support from the crypto community.
Those pledges marked a shift for Trump, who years ago voiced scepticism about digital assets, before embracing the industry — pushing his own crypto projects and courting executives and enthusiasts to back his campaign.
Last year, Trump issued a new collection of nonfungible tokens bearing his likeness, and, together with his sons announced World Liberty Financial, a yet to-be-launched project that promises to let people earn and borrow crypto. Then in January, Trump and his wife launched two meme coins, which have already garnered billions of dollars in market cap.
The executive order also marks a win for an industry that ramped up its political involvement in the last election through sizeable donations.
