The new Trump ends the “harassment” of the cryptocurrency community

After years of regulatory “harassment” under the Biden administration — as one prominent investor described it to NYNext — the cryptocurrency community is celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration as an end to four years of “terror,” heralding a major policy change aimed at legitimizing cryptocurrency. industry.

This shift is characterized by the appointment of crypto-friendly administrators such as David Sachs as the AI ​​and cryptocurrency czar and Nominated by Paul Atkins To the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in addition to promising executive orders from day one that would create a Bitcoin reserve and Ending bank discounting.

“The entire market is relieved… We have a seismic shift in the approach and tone of the government and regulators,” said Frank Chaparro, an early Bitcoin investor and director of special projects at cryptocurrency news site The Block. “What this means in practice is that banks will be able to transact with cryptocurrencies – for the last four years, they were told they couldn’t.”

Simply de-banking — or refusing to work with clients because of their connection to cryptocurrencies — may be enough to help the industry thrive, sources say.

“All of those banks that have worked with cryptocurrencies have faced regulatory harassment,” Nick Carter, a cryptocurrency investor at Castle Island Ventures who has raised alarm bells about Biden’s efforts to break up banks, told NYNext.

Carter has called Biden’s so-called efforts to break up banks “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” — a reference to the Obama administration’s Operation Chokepoint, which aimed to crack down on illicit activity, such as drug sales, but ended up going after legitimate businesses like dealers. Firearms.

Under the Biden administration, regulators at the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) told banks not to work with cryptocurrency companies, crippling the industry. Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen called the administration’s action “intimidating” for startups – and said in an interview with Joe Rogan last month that banks had to stop funding 30 startups in which he had invested.

“It is a privatized penal system,” Andreessen said.

“Banks never tell you why they’re blocking your bank account,” Carter adds. “They may verbally talk about there being reputational risks, but the conversation is very vague.”

This situation has led to cryptocurrency startups moving offshore or never launching in the first place.

With this change alone, Carter predicts a crypto startup renaissance: “All the startups that left will come back [to the US] …This was the number one thing that people in the cryptocurrency space wanted to change.

There are already some Early signs of this happeningSources add.

Dennis Dinkelmeier, founder and CEO of Europe-based cryptocurrency investment firm Midas, told the New York Times that he is considering launching in the United States this year.

“Founders across the market are looking to return or expand into the US for the first time in four years,” Dinkelmeyer said. “The excitement is back and you see that in recent news about big projects like TON [Midas’ crypto bank on the blockchain] Entering the US market for the first time.

During his administration, Biden appointed officials who tried to crack down on the industry, passing laws that made it difficult for traditional institutions to hold cryptocurrency. Sources explain that lawmakers and regulators viewed the industry, which remains largely speculative, as something to be scaled back rather than carefully grown.

Although they acknowledge there are risks, these people want to see rules that at least allow cryptocurrency companies to operate and grow in the United States.

On Friday, Saks will host the first-ever cryptocurrency gala in Washington, D.C., kicking off a weekend of celebrations before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Tickets range in price from $2,500 (already sold out) to $1. The $1 million — which includes a private dinner with the president-elect — includes sponsors like Coinbase, Solana, MicroStrategy, Kraken, Galaxy Digital and more.

Anthony Pompliano, founder and CEO of Professional Capital Management, explains that in the coming months, he is optimistic that the Trump administration will delve into the details of regulations and change accounting rules to make it easier to transact in Bitcoin.

While many in the cryptocurrency community have been cheering the pro-crypto executive orders Trump is expected to issue, there is one idea causing more controversy: the idea of ​​an America First strategic reserve that would prioritize cryptocurrencies established in the United States. United, like Solana. The US dollar and Ripple.

In recent weeks, Trump met with the founders of these currencies, and sources said he was receptive to the idea.

The insiders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed concerns that this could delegitimize efforts to promote Bitcoin, an asset they want to prioritize.

But sources also told The Post that these cracks are taking a back seat to what they believe will become a golden age for cryptocurrencies.

Chaparro, for example, believes that Trump has already set a new tone for the industry: “It’s a radical shift — America is back in business with crypto founders.”