In the early hours of February 5th, White House AI and Cryptocurrency Advisor David Sacks held the first news conference on digital assets with several U.S. congressional legislators on Capitol Hill, detailing the latest plans of the White House and Congress to develop digital assets in the United States. Sacks stated at the meeting that he looks forward to working with congressional legislators to "create a golden age of digital assets". He revealed that they are evaluating a Bitcoin reserve proposal, although it is still in the early stages.

Author, Source: Weilin, PANews

In the early hours of Beijing time on February 5th, White House AI and Cryptocurrency Advisor David Sacks held the first news conference on digital assets with several U.S. congressional legislators on Capitol Hill, detailing the latest plans of the White House and Congress to develop digital assets in the United States.

Sacks stated at the meeting that he looks forward to working with congressional legislators to "create a golden age of digital assets". He revealed that they are evaluating a Bitcoin reserve proposal, although it is still in the early stages.

On the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) side, reports indicate that the agency is downsizing a special group of more than 50 lawyers and staff that had been dedicated to cryptocurrency enforcement actions, with some lawyers being reassigned to other SEC departments, marking a shift in the SEC's approach to cryptocurrency regulation. Meanwhile, the SEC has launched a website for its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, with Commissioner Hester Peirce outlining ten priority areas, including addressing how different crypto assets should be classified and regulated.

David Sacks: Looks Forward to "Creating a Golden Age of Digital Assets", Evaluating Bitcoin Reserve Proposal

Sacks emphasized at the press conference that he looks forward to working with Congress to jointly "create a golden age of digital assets". The press conference also invited Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, and House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson.

These committees are forming a bicameral committee to lead cryptocurrency regulatory work, planning to build on the market structure legislation "FIT21" passed by the House Financial Services Committee last year, and combine it with Senator Bill Hagerty's new stablecoin bill released on February 4th, to drive new legislation. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said he plans to "push as hard as possible" to get these bills passed in the Senate within the first 100 days.

Sacks also confirmed that the President's Digital Assets Working Group, established by the Trump executive order, will first examine the feasibility of a Bitcoin reserve, but he noted that this initiative is still in the early stages as some members of the working group have not yet been confirmed.

Senator Bill Hagerty Introduces New Stablecoin Bill GENIUS

As mentioned in the text, on February 4th, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty introduced a bill aimed at creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins, bringing tokens like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) under the Federal Reserve's regulatory rules.

The stablecoin bill aims to create "a safe and growth-friendly regulatory framework to unleash innovation" and advance former President Trump's pledge to make the U.S. the "global crypto capital".

Hagerty's "Guidance and Enabling New Innovations in Unstable Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act" has the support of Senators Tim Scott, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Cynthia Lummis.

Hagerty added on X platform that he looks forward to working with Congressman French Hill and the House Financial Services Committee to "get it (the bill) to the President's desk and signed into law".

Hagerty's stablecoin bill builds on a discussion draft he submitted for former Congressman Patrick McHenry's "Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act" last October.

The key elements of the GENIUS Act include:

1. Defining payment stablecoins as a digital asset pegged to a fixed monetary value for payments or settlement;

2. Establishing a clear process for institutions seeking to issue stablecoins to obtain a license;

3. Imposing reserve requirements on stablecoin issuers and setting light-touch, tailored regulatory standards;

4. Applying the Federal Reserve's regulatory framework for depository institutions and the OCC's framework for non-bank issuers to issuers with over $10 billion in stablecoins;

5. Allowing state-level regulation for issuers below the $10 billion threshold, with an exemption process for those exceeding it to continue state-level oversight;

6. Establishing a clear regulatory, examination, and enforcement mechanism with defined limitations.

According to CoinGecko data, Tether (USDT) and Circle's USD Coin (USDC) are currently the only two stablecoins with a market cap exceeding $10 billion.

Stablecoin issuers will also be required to provide monthly audited reserve reports, with the potential for criminal penalties for submitting false information.

SEC Launches Crypto Unit Website, Adjusts Regulatory Approach

On February 5th, according to the New York Times, five people familiar with the matter revealed that the SEC has downsized a special group of more than 50 lawyers and staff that had been dedicated to cryptocurrency enforcement actions, marking one of the first concrete steps taken by the Trump administration and its government to reduce regulation of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. One of Trump's first executive orders was aimed at promoting the development of cryptocurrencies and "eliminating overregulation of digital assets".

The sources said that some lawyers from the cryptocurrency group are being reassigned to other departments within the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A senior lawyer from the group has been moved out of the enforcement division.

Interim SEC Chair Mark T. Uyeda, while making a series of other high-level appointments at the SEC, has also established a group to review the SEC's approach to digital assets. This working group is led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, an outspoken supporter of cryptocurrencies.

On February 4th, local time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a webpage for its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, outlining 10 priority areas for the group, including addressing how different crypto assets should be classified as securities versus commodities, and creating a more "viable" registration path by amending existing SEC registration routes.

Other priorities include "clarifying whether crypto lending and staking activities are subject to securities laws" and determining which parts of the market fall outside the SEC's jurisdiction.

Looking ahead, as the White House and U.S. Congress work closely to drive the development of digital assets, the legislative process for cryptocurrency and stablecoin regulation in the U.S. is gradually accelerating. Although many proposals are still in the early stages, the framework around Bitcoin reserves and stablecoins is taking shape. As the SEC's Crypto Unit adjusts its approach, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. can lead global crypto innovation.