Trump issues executive order to support the development of cryptocurrencies

President Trump on Thursday issued an executive order to support the growth of the cryptocurrency industry, calling for a new plan to regulate a business in which he has substantial personal investments.
The executive order, which was light on details, said the Trump administration would create a working group on digital assets to come up with a comprehensive plan including “regulatory and legislative proposals.” The group also considered establishing a national cryptocurrency stockpile, the order said—a government-controlled stash of digital coins that the industry has spent months lobbying the new administration to create.
“The digital asset industry plays a critical role in innovation and economic growth in the United States, as well as our country’s international leadership.” “So it is my administration’s policy to support digital development and the use of digital assets.”
Mr. Trump has a significant personal stake in the success of the crypto industry. He and his sons helped launch a crypto company last year called World Liberty Financial, which is selling a new digital currency called WLFI. This month, he and his wife, Melania, each began selling Memecoins, a type of cryptocurrency inspired by an online joke or celebrity mascot.
The ventures have drawn criticism from ethics experts, who are concerned about conflicts of interest. In effect, Mr. Trump is trying to write the rules for business enterprises from which he can personally benefit. He has vowed to end the Biden administration’s legal crackdown on crypto companies and made a series of personnel selections at key federal agencies designed to boost the prospects of the crypto industry.
In the executive order, Mr Trump said his administration was committed to “protecting and promoting” the crypto industry. He promised “fair and open access to banking services,” responding to complaints by crypto companies that banks have denied them accounts. And shortly after the order was issued, the Securities and Exchange Commission rolled over accounting guidance This had stopped banks from associating with crypto.
Still, Mr. Trump’s actions did not go as far into the crypto industry as expected. He did not order federal agencies to drop lawsuits against crypto companies, nor direct the government to start buying Bitcoin.
Among the more substantive elements of the order is a prohibition on the creation of a “central bank digital currency,” a type of cryptocurrency that is overseen by the government. Many crypto enthusiasts oppose the creation of such currencies on ideological grounds, and Mr. Trump vowed to outlaw them on the campaign trail.
but in Analysis Molly White, a crypto researcher, said that no federal agency has ever seriously pursued creating such a cryptocurrency. Ms. White called Mr. Trump’s order “mostly symbolic.”
Once a skeptic who dismissed Bitcoin as a scam, Mr Trump became an ardent enthusiast for digital currencies on the campaign trail, as the crypto industry poured more than $130 million into the high-profile congressional race. At a Bitcoin conference in July, Mr Trump vowed to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet”.
Then, in September, the Trump family launched World Liberty Financial, which they marketed as a platform to facilitate borrowing and lending in digital currencies. Mr Trump is not a direct owner of World Liberty Financial, but he does get a cut of the sale of WLFI, the cryptocurrency linked to the platform.
Since his election, Mr Trump has moved to reopen regulatory agencies that pursued crypto companies during the Biden administration. In December, he elected a new SEC chair, who has worked closely with crypto companies. And he tapped venture investor and digital currency enthusiast David Sachs to oversee his administration’s policies on artificial intelligence and crypto.
But Mr. Trump’s most aggressive foray into the crypto market occurred on Friday night, when he announced a memecoin called $Trump. Cryptocurrency sales immediately soared, adding tens of billions of dollars to Mr. Trump’s net worth, at least on paper. The price collapsed two days later after Melania Trump announced she was offering a Memcoin.
The episode prompted outrage from crypto traders, who said they were burned by the back-to-back announcements and chaotic price movement. But the industry still has high hopes for the Trump administration. Crypto executives have lobbied him for months, hoping to secure his support for legislation that would define the SEC and boost the prices of major digital currencies.
Hours before Mr Trump’s inauguration on Monday, the price of Bitcoin surged to a record of more than $109,000, as crypto supporters celebrated the ascension of a man they had previously described as the “Bitcoin President”.
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