President Trump's new administration wastes no time in moving forward with plans to reshape the crypto industry. Here are the big moves this week.
White House Explores National Bitcoin Reserve
There has been much speculation and anticipation about a Bitcoin strategic reserve under the new administration. In his first days in office, Trump appointed Silicon Valley venture capitalist David Sacks as White House crypto and artificial intelligence czar. In a press conference this week, Sacks laid out efforts to explore and create a national Bitcoin reserve and said he has met with Republican lawmakers to push for crypto-friendly policies. A newly formed federal working group is expected to deliver a report in six months.
Stablecoin Clarity Top Of The Agenda
The new group will be formed from the Senate Banking Committee, Senate Agriculture Committee, House Agriculture Committee, and House Financial Services Committee. Senator Tim Scott, head of the Senate Banking Committee, said legislation to "establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins" is one of the group's priorities.
“Stablecoins enable faster, cheaper, and competitive transactions in our digital world and facilitate seamless cross-border payments,” said Chairman Scott. “This legislation will expand financial inclusion and provide much-needed clarity to ensure the industry can innovate and grow here in the United States, while protecting consumers and promoting the U.S. dollar’s global position. I look forward to working with our colleagues – including House Financial Services Chairman French Hill – to advance this legislation to President Trump’s desk.”
This move is a refreshingly bipartisan approach to addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapidly growing crypto sector. It aligns with the broader push for clearer and more consistent federal and state regulations.
SEC Scales Back Crypto Enforcement Unit
Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is "restructuring" its 50-person crypto enforcement unit, with some staff reassigned to other departments - including top lawyers - according to a report by The New York Times. The SEC has not commented on the shake-up, which comes amid sweeping changes at the top after the resignation of former Chair Gary Gensler and the appointment of Acting Chair Mark Uyeda. Uyeda has already rolled back some restrictive policies like SAB 121, which hindered banks from offering crypto custody services.
Crypto-Mom Unveils 10-Point Plan for SEC’s Crypto Task Force
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, a long-time advocate for a review of current crypto regulations and affectionately known in the community as Crypto-Mom, has outlined a 10-point action plan for the newly formed Crypto Task Force. The plan focuses on providing regulatory clarity, evaluating the security status of crypto assets, and offering retroactive relief for certain token offerings.
“It took us a long time to get into this mess, and it is going to take us some time to get out of it.... Throughout this time, the Commission’s handling of crypto has been marked by legal imprecision and commercial impracticality.”
Peirce is heavily focused on the need for collaboration with other regulators and industry stakeholders to create a fairer regulatory framework.
U.S. Treasury On Blockchain
Finally, one of the key persons behind this party, Elon Musk is reportedly exploring options to improve the transparency of U.S. Treasury with distributed ledger technology (DLT). No details for the specific blockchain choice has been provided so far.