Author: Weilin, PANews
Tonight, Trump at the Digital Asset Summit stated that the US will lead the development of cryptocurrencies and next-generation financial technology.
According to Jinse, US President Trump stated: The US is already leading in the field of cryptocurrencies and next-generation financial technology. We are ending the regulatory war of the previous administration on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.
Of course, Trump has done more than that, let's review his crypto policies since taking office.
This article will categorize and review these significant crypto regulatory policy initiatives, and interpret their far-reaching impact on the crypto industry.
Trump Signs Crypto Executive Order
On the third day of his presidency, on January 23, US President Trump signed the "Strengthening America's Leadership in Digital Financial Technologies" crypto executive order, proposing to establish a "President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets" to explore federal regulatory measures for stablecoins and national digital asset reserve plans, and explicitly prohibiting the "establishment, issuance, circulation or use" of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
SEC Chair Transition, Major Regulatory Strategy Adjustments
Last July, at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Trump gave a speech promising to fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his first day in office.
On November 22, 2024, the SEC announced that Gary Gensler will step down on the first day of Trump's term. On January 20, he officially stepped down. His successor is Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners LLC and former SEC commissioner, whose nomination is currently awaiting congressional confirmation.
On January 22, the SEC immediately established a crypto-focused special task force, began adjusting its regulatory strategy, reduced the team responsible for crypto enforcement actions, and reassigned some lawyers. The SEC also launched a website for its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, with Hester Peirce outlining ten priority tasks, focusing on the classification and regulation of crypto assets.
On January 24, in the latest Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122, the SEC announced the withdrawal of the controversial crypto accounting policy SAB 121. SAB 121 required digital asset custodians to treat digital assets as liabilities and report them at fair value on the balance sheet. The crypto industry has widely feared that this could prevent banks from custodying digital assets, excluding banks from the crypto market.
In addition, on May 22 last year, the FIT21 bill was passed in the House of Representatives, seen as a historic breakthrough for the US crypto industry. The bill resolves the long-standing regulatory conflict between the SEC and CFTC on cryptocurrency, and is currently progressing.
SEC Collectively Withdraws Lawsuits Against Crypto Companies
On February 27, the SEC terminated its investigation of Gemini Trust without taking enforcement action. Prior to this, the SEC had withdrawn its lawsuit against Coinbase and terminated investigations into OpenSea, Robinhood and Uniswap.In the seventh week of Trump's term (March 3-9), the SEC agreed to withdraw its lawsuit against Kraken, with no fines, no admission of wrongdoing, and no impact on Kraken's business model.
Redefining "Exchange"
On March 11, news broke that the SEC is evaluating a proposal to redefine "exchange", which could provide clearer guidance on the regulatory framework for US crypto trading platforms.
At the same time, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution overturning the IRS's broker rules for decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. This rule required crypto entities to collect specific taxpayer and transaction information, which DeFi platforms find difficult to implement. The US Senate had previously voted to pass the resolution, but due to budget rules, it still needs another vote before being sent to President Trump for signing.
Pardoning Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht
On January 22, Trump fulfilled another promise made at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, pardoning Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life without parole. Ross Ulbricht later expressed his gratitude to Trump on Twitter, who released him after 11 years of imprisonment.
Appointing Crypto-Friendly Officials
On January 20, after the presidential inauguration ceremony, the White House announced that the newly sworn-in President Trump had appointed Republican Mark Uyeda as acting SEC Chair. Previously, Trump had announced the nomination of Paul Atkins as SEC Chair.
In the second week of Trump's term, the Senate confirmed his nominee for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, a finance heavyweight with an open attitude towards cryptocurrencies.
In the fourth week, Trump nominated former CFTC commissioner and Kalshi executive Brian Quintenz as the new CFTC Chair.
In the fifth week, billionaire Howard Lutnick was confirmed as the next Commerce Secretary, and the market immediately began to focus on how he would impact the regulatory environment for the crypto industry.
On the congressional side, there are also crypto-friendly officials in key positions. On January 23, the Senate Banking Committee established a Digital Assets Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Cynthia Lummis, to drive industry compliance. On March 3, the House Republican Leader and Congressman Ritchie Torres are jointly forming the "Congressional Crypto Caucus" to promote crypto-friendly legislation and build a pro-digital asset voting bloc in the House.
Announcing Strategic Bitcoin and Digital Asset Reserves
In the sixth week of his term (February 24 - March 2), Trump announced on social media 5 key crypto asset categories for the US strategic crypto reserves, including BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA. The inclusion of ADA sparked controversy, with some market participants jokingly calling it an "advertising slot". However, on March 7, AI and crypto czar David Sacks stated that ADA, SOL, and XRP were included because they are among the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
On the morning of March 7, Beijing time, Trump's promised strategic Bitcoin reserve has arrived! David Sacks announced on the X platform that President Trump has officially signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset reserve. However, as both reserves are primarily funded by "criminal or civil asset forfeitures", the market initially reacted negatively to BTC and other token prices, before recovering slightly.
In addition to the President's executive order, on the legislative front, on March 12, US Senator Cynthia Lummis has resubmitted the Bitcoin bill (Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide Act of 2025) in the 119th Congress. The bill will allow the US government to hold over 1 million Bitcoins. The original bill was proposed in July 2024, requiring the US government to purchase 200,000 Bitcoins per year over five years, funded by adjustments to existing Federal Reserve and Treasury resources. In this latest revision, the US government can hold additional Bitcoins through legal means (including civil or criminal forfeiture, donation, or transfer from federal agencies).
Digital Asset Summit
In the third week of Trump's term (February 3-9), David Sacks and several US congressional legislators held the first news conference on digital assets at Capitol Hill, detailing the latest plans for the White House and Congress to develop US digital assets. Sacks stated at the event that he looks forward to collaborating with congressional legislators, boldly announcing the goal to "create a golden age of digital assets".
On March 7, local time, the United States held the first White House Digital Asset Summit, and President Trump gave a brief speech at the summit. He stated that last year, I promised to make the United States a global Bitcoin superpower and the world's cryptocurrency capital. We are taking historic action to fulfill this promise, and suggested: "From today on, the United States will follow the rules that every Bitcoin holder knows - never sell your Bitcoin."
Trump mentioned that he will terminate the "Stifling Action 2.0" against the cryptocurrency industry under the Biden administration. However, although there were reports from the scene that the summit was recognized by industry leaders, the summit did not lead to a rise in the prices of assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the cryptocurrency market saw a significant decline after the summit.
The market is seeing a wave of Altcoin ETF applications
As of March 12, the tokens that have applied for ETFs include at least DOGE, LTC, HEAR, SOL, XRP, SUI, AVAX, DOT, LINK, ADA, APT, AXL, etc. According to Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, the market currently has a relatively high probability of approving spot ETFs for LTC, DOGE, SOL and XRP. The market's expectation for the listing of ETFs for other mainstream Altcoins on the US capital market has clearly increased.
Due to important changes in the personnel of the SEC, its policies have become more friendly towards cryptocurrencies. If the United States launches an Altcoin ETF, it may directly lead to imitation by other countries and regions around the world. Bloomberg analysts expect the SEC to make a decision on the proposed Altcoin ETFs by October of this year.
"Debanking" has sparked widespread discussion
On the evening of February 5, the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing on the "Investigation of the Real Impact of Debanking on the United States". The witnesses included Anchorage Digital co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP partner Stephen Gannon, Old Glory Bank president and CEO Mike Ring, and Brookings Institution senior research fellow Aaron Klein. This hearing discussed the impact of account closures and financial service restrictions on businesses and individuals, and studied relevant policy response measures.
On February 11, local time, at the Senate Banking Committee hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that given the criticism that the cryptocurrency industry has faced in being excluded from banking services, it is now time to "re-examine" the issue of debanking. Senate Banking Committee Chairman, South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, asked Powell if he agreed to commit to working with lawmakers to end debanking; Powell said he agreed. It is expected that discussions on "debanking" will further intensify this year.
Strong interest in Bitcoin reserves
As of March 4, 24 U.S. states have proposed draft cryptocurrency reserve bills, with most states' bills still in the draft proposal or legislative review stage, and a few states have made faster progress (such as Texas and Utah), while 5 states (Pennsylvania, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota) have rejected the relevant bills. The reasons for rejection are concerns about the risks and volatility associated with digital assets, taxpayer fund risk concerns, the high energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining, and the possibility that digital currencies may be used for illegal activities.
The pioneering state of Texas, its state senate previously passed SB 21, which stipulates that a state-managed fund will be created to hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Texas Comptroller will be responsible for overseeing the reserve, which will hold at least $500 billion worth of cryptocurrencies and be eligible for state budget allocations.
Legislation on the regulatory framework for stablecoins
On February 5, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty introduced the Stablecoin Transparency and Uniform Safe Transactions (GENIUS) Act, which will bring USDT, USDC and other stablecoins under the Federal Reserve's regulatory framework and provide compliance operation guidelines. As of March 12, the U.S. Senate has updated the bill, with the updated bill specifically expanding the "reciprocal provisions for payment stablecoins in overseas jurisdictions".
At the White House summit, Trump instructed his policy executors to push for stablecoin legislation and plans to complete it before Congress adjourns in August. The initial target was to submit legislation within the first 100 days of his term, but the current timeline has been extended by 4 months.
Conclusion
In general, in the 8 weeks since Trump took office, there have been a series of major adjustments in U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, from policy direction to key personnel changes, all pointing to a more open regulatory environment. Will the United States really become the world's cryptocurrency capital as Trump said? Policy uncertainty still exists, and the market reaction is also relatively cautious, so the future regulatory direction still needs to be closely watched.
