Galaxy Report: Various exemptions that benefit the crypto industry may be introduced soon under the Trump administration

Odaily Planet Daily Report: In a recent report, Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy, stated that under the leadership of the Trump administration, the following could happen in crypto policy: - Bank regulators: Trump will immediately appoint a new acting Comptroller of the Currency and a new acting FDIC Chair. Within days, bank regulators may issue guidance explicitly prohibiting unfair targeting of specific industries (Chokepoint 2.0) and rescinding existing adverse interpretive guidance or letters for that industry. Within weeks or months, the OCC may issue guidance explicitly allowing banks to custody digital assets and use, operate, and interact with public blockchains and stablecoins. - Market regulators: Trump will elevate the current SEC and CFTC commissioners to acting chairs. While Trump has promised to "fire Gary Gensler," most constitutional scholars believe the President cannot remove independent agency commissioners. However, the President can immediately designate the current commissioners as acting heads of their respective agencies. In the near term, some crypto enforcement will be paused, some litigation will be stayed or withdrawn, and no action letters will not be issued on any specific topics or projects, allowing the industry and regulators to discuss a reasonable path forward. The CFTC's stance will be similar. - Congressional legislation: The biggest crypto policy agenda items in Congress include market structure (clarifying the regulatory status and oversight of digital assets) and stablecoins (legalizing and licensing stablecoin issuance). Currently, the parties are relatively close on stablecoin legislation. If the Republicans control the House, the likelihood of these bills rapidly advancing in the 118th Congress is lower, with the expectation of a shift to the latter half of the 119th Congress. - Energy policy: A Trump presidency, especially if the Republicans control both chambers of Congress, will be highly favorable for domestic energy and power production. This will benefit miners, data centers, any entities able to access large amounts of power, and energy producers themselves. Easing of regulatory friction, along with specific no-action letters, interpretive guidance, or regulatory safe harbors, may significantly expand institutional investors' access to cryptocurrencies in the US. For example, relaxing the SEC's application of the Howey test to digital assets, or expanding the category of "crypto asset securities" that can be traded within broker-dealers, will allow more participants to enter the exchange space, potentially including traditional financial institutions like banks, exchanges, or brokerages, and could also lead to more spot ETFs in the US. The report concludes that various forms of exemptive relief are expected to come quickly, while a more robust supportive regulatory framework will take more time. The permissive enforcement environment combined with progressive policy thinking will pave the way for traditional financial services firms and institutional investors to deepen their engagement with this asset class. This will challenge the moats of existing crypto infrastructure participants but will broadly support the expansion and maturation of the crypto asset class. Under this environment, Bitcoin and other digital assets are expected to trade significantly above current all-time highs over the next 12-18 months.