Author: Turner Wright, CoinTelegraph; Translator: Bai Shui, Jinse Finance
With only seven days until the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, many in the cryptocurrency industry are watching his future personnel choices and policy statements.
Since Trump's shift from calling Bitcoin a "scam" in 2021 to embracing the technology during his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has made many promises to the digital asset industry that could impact regulation and enforcement. While it's unclear whether he plans to prioritize fulfilling these promises - or even fully deliver on them - once in office, some changes have already emerged in the regulatory landscape ahead of his scheduled inauguration.
Firing Gary Gensler on "Day One"
At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Trump promised to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on his first day in office on January 20th. Many speculated that despite Gensler's term as SEC chair not ending until June 2026, he was more likely to announce his resignation before Trump's presidential inauguration.
On November 22nd, about two weeks after the U.S. presidential election, Gensler announced he would resign on the day of Trump's inauguration, paving the way for the Senate to confirm another SEC chair. The president-elect will have the authority to appoint acting heads of regulatory agencies until the Senate confirms Gensler's full-time successor.
On December 4th, Trump announced he plans to nominate former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to chair the commission in 2025. Whoever serves as SEC chair will have the power to change the regulatory policies and related enforcement actions towards digital assets - something cryptocurrency users have harshly criticized Gensler for.
Will Financial Regulators Take a Different Direction Starting in 2025?
Beyond a general commitment to change the SEC's stance of "demonizing" the cryptocurrency industry and "preventing ordinary Americans" from moving funds to exchanges, it's unclear what Trump might have planned for the commission during a second term.
If confirmed as SEC chair, Atkins would have the authority to chart his own course. If Trump disagrees with any decision, he could call out the potential commission head on social media or exert other political pressure.
Some members of the 119th Congress have suggested supporting the passage of the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act (FIT21), which would clarify the roles of the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding digital assets. However, even without this legislation, there have been reports that Trump plans to appoint a CFTC chair who supports crypto-friendly regulation.
According to the "2025 Project" - a conservative policy framework that Trump's transition team reportedly rejected during the campaign but then turned to for hiring decisions after Election Day - congressional members should "modernize the definition of commodities [...] and clarify the treatment of digital assets." The framework also suggests any administration should "eliminate regulatory barriers" at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission should clarify the treatment of digital assets [by issuing] joint regulations that digital asset holders are not to be considered parties to an investment contract [and] modify the definition of commodities to include digital assets that are not securities."
The Trump-Pence transition website did not mention the SEC or CFTC in its policy platform when published.
A Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Presidential Advisory Council
At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Trump also said he plans to establish a committee focused on digital asset-related issues:
"Their mission will be to design transparent regulatory guidelines that will benefit the entire industry, and they will complete this task within 100 days. We will make regulations, but from now on, the rules will be made by people who love your industry, not hate it."
As of January 13th, the president-elect has appointed former PayPal COO David Sacks as his "crypto and AI czar" to lead this council, and former Republican House candidate Bo Hines as its executive director.
Trump stated that Hines and Sacks will work to "promote innovation and growth in the digital asset space while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed," but had not provided further details on the council's activities or whether they might include favorable regulations at the time of publication.
Blocking the Fed's CBDC Development
At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, Trump stated: "The creation of central bank digital currencies is over. As long as I am President of the United States, there will never be a CBDC."
Representative Tom Emmer has said the Federal Reserve has been exploring the development of a digital dollar for years, including making it one of its "primary responsibilities" by March 2024. So far, the central bank has not announced any timeline for potentially issuing a digital dollar, but many U.S. lawmakers and political candidates have opposed CBDCs on the 2024 campaign trail.
While the U.S. president does have the power to appoint and potentially dismiss the Federal Reserve chair, their ability to influence central bank policy is somewhat limited.
Trump could publicly make statements to exert political pressure on the Fed to make certain decisions, or even potentially fire a chair who disagrees with him, but he cannot directly order the Fed to take actions like raising or lowering interest rates.
During his first term, Trump appointed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair. Although the president-elect criticized high interest rates, he publicly stated he would not try to fire Powell, allowing the Fed chair to serve at least until the end of his term in May 2026.
