The US cryptocurrency industry is eyeing Trump’s potential day one executive orders
(This December 23 story has been corrected to fix the spelling of “Jonah Crane” in paragraphs 15 and 18)
Written by Hannah Lange
(Reuters) – The cryptocurrency industry is pushing President-elect Donald Trump’s team to begin a promised cryptocurrency policy overhaul when he takes office next month with executive orders that would help push tokens into the mainstream, according to industry officials.
Trump plans to issue a series of executive orders and directives on everything from immigration to energy on his first day in office on January 20, Reuters reported this month.
During the campaign, Trump turned to cryptocurrencies with promises to be a “crypto president,” and the industry wants him to make good on that pledge with executive orders to create a Bitcoin stock, ensure the industry can access banking services, and create cryptocurrency. The council said, the people said.
Two other people familiar with the matter said they are pushing for those executive orders to be issued within Trump’s first 100 days in office, and they expect at least one to be issued on January 20.
“Given the tenor of the campaign, it will be essential for executive orders to really lay out the actual priorities on day one and provide some sort of roadmap,” said Rebecca Rettig, chief legal and policy officer at cryptocurrency firm Polygon Labs. .
Concerned about crime and volatility, regulators under President Joe Biden have cracked down on cryptocurrency companies, but Trump has vowed to reverse course. His cryptocurrency policy team is already starting to take shape, with the announcement this month of crypto-friendly Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins and White House crypto czar David Sachs.
“There have been efforts in the bureaucratic swamp in Washington to stifle innovation…but President Trump will make good on his promise to encourage American leadership in crypto,” Brian Hughes, a spokesman for Trump’s transition team, said in a statement.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, set new records above $107,000 this month after Trump repeated his plan, which he first revealed in a speech in July, for a strategic reserve of Bitcoin. Bitcoin has since fallen below $100,000.
Analysts are divided over whether Trump could use executive powers to create the reserve, perhaps through the Treasury Department, or whether a congressional action would be necessary.
One industry group, the Bitcoin Policy Institute, went so far as to draft text for a potential executive order that Trump could use to create such a stock.
That draft would designate bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset and require the Treasury secretary to spend $21 billion over the course of a year to build up a national stockpile of bitcoin, according to the draft seen by Reuters.
https://media.zenfs.com/en/reuters-finance.com/eb0c0ed200eba2b89ef89c39bfdb9de2
