BURSTThe Trump administration in nearly 100 days reversed Washington’s tone on cryptocurrency, making good on many of its promises to the industry in a blitz of executive orders and regulatory shake-ups.
From scrapping Biden-era lawsuits against crypto firms to greenlighting a strategic bitcoin reserve, President Trump’s first 100 days included a combination of both symbolic and concrete moves on digital assets.
While crypto observers agree the long-term impacts of these moves are not yet clear, key players in the crypto industry see Trump’s early changes as wins in their own rights.
The persistent positivity remains even as Trump’s other policy moves, from the trade war to the launch of meme coins, create new frustrations for some in the crypto industry.
“The big picture here is tremendous, and we have a long-term perspective, we invest for the long term from our seat [and] it's as good as it could possibly be,” said Nic Carter, a founding partner at crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures.
Industry optimism remains high
After months of courting voters who own or support cryptocurrencies, Trump planted a flag for pro-crypto policies within days of his return to office.
The president signed an executive order during his first week to create a working group focused on digital assets led by David Sacks, the White House czar for artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency.
Trump tasked the group with proposing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets and helping oversee the strategic bitcoin reserve and digital assets stockpile, which the president established via executive order in March.
Trump also reversed former President Biden’s 2022 crypto directive, marking a clean break for the crypto industry under the new administration.
“It’s a total sea change in Washington, it couldn’t be more different from six months ago,” Carter said.
Carter said he keeps a list in his desk to track Trump’s fulfillment of crypto-related campaign promises.
“It's a bunch of green checks down the page,” he said.
While pouring nearly $250 million into 2024 races up and down the ballot, the crypto sector has pushed for clearer rules on cryptocurrency trading and an end to the Biden administration’s aggressive regulatory approach.
The industry’s investment is paying off, and the administration is listening, various crypto executives told The Hill.
“Whether you support this administration or not, the fact is: regulators are starting to engage in a real dialogue. That matters,” said JP Richardson, the CEO of bitcoin and crypto wallet Exodus.
“For years, we were left in a gray zone — building without clear guidance, always worried about getting blindsided. What we’re seeing now is a willingness to listen.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped several Biden-era investigations into crypto firms within weeks of the new administration, while agencies like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Treasury Department and Federal Reserve are also rolling out new guidance on enforcement and market definitions to clear up confusion.
Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of crypto platform Anchorage Digital, told The Hill he is “impressed” at how quickly the White House’s crypto-friendly tone permeated across regulatory agencies.
“You have the SEC hosting crypto roundtables almost nonstop ... you have the Treasury Department looking at the strategic bitcoin reserve,” he said.
“Having that freedom to build, that freedom to innovate, is the most important thing the industry is thinking about, and I would say optimism hasn’t waned at all in that regard, it’s only increased.”
Scaling back enforcement
As the federal government tries to undo the past four years of the Biden administration’s hard-line policies, some skepticism remains over whether the administration could go too far in its scaling back of enforcement.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department disbanded its regulation enforcement unit, stoking criticism from some Democrats concerned digital financial crimes could now go unchecked.
The administration is “signaling to the crypto world that they don’t have to be cautious about securities laws in the way that they previously did,” said Molly White, a cryptocurrency researcher and advocate for tougher rules.
The new tone, White argued, is giving crypto companies the green light to roll out new products with less fear of enforcement.
“We’re beginning to see those changes where new products are being developed and offered that previously would have most certainly invited SEC attention. Often these are sort of higher risk products,” she said.
The Trump family’s various crypto projects, specifically the launch of two personalized meme coins, led to some frustrations from the industry given concerns about how the coins could benefit the president’s family.
Just days ahead of his inauguration, Trump launched two meme coins, stoking concerns with the crypto world that it could undermine industry’s attempts to be taken seriously in Washington.
Meme coins are cryptocurrencies usually based on internet trends and start with no inherent value. Their value can surge when there is a high demand, making them a highly volatile asset that could leave the president with large sums of money.
“You previously had some Democratic members who were sort of amenable to supporting some of these crypto bills, who are now getting a bit skittish because Trump is just so blatant in sort of combining his financial interest with his political power that they don't want to be perceived as sort of voting to further benefit Trump,” said Lee Reiners, a lecturing fellow of economics at Duke University.
“The industry recognized that [there was] a perception problem and so I think they've been working hard to change that and be viewed as kind of responsible actors,” he added.
Trump’s crypto company reignited ethics concerns around last week, when it announced the president would attend an “intimate private dinner” with the top 220 holders of his token. Two Democratic lawmakers wrote to a federal ethics watchdog, urging him to investigate.
Little concern over Trump's other policies
While the Trump administration is taking a friendly approach towards crypto, the White House’s broader policies could be negatively impacting the industry at the same time, according to some analysts.
Researchers with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase warned earlier this month a “crypto winter” could be coming amid the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff war.
“Several converging signals may be pointing to the start of a new ‘crypto winter’ as some extreme negative sentiment has set in due to the onset of global tariffs and the potential for further escalations,” Coinbase researchers wrote in an April monthly outlook report.
At the time of the report’s publication, it stated the total market cap was at least 41 percent down from its December high of $1.61 trillion and about 17 percent below numbers from last year.
There are mixed opinions on whether crypto is insulated from the turmoil in the global market.
“Crypto folks are maybe in a sour mood because markets are down, and I think [Trump’s] inauguration was the top for many digital assets. But those are just the short-term folks in the industry that can't see the forest for the trees,” Carter said.
Trump’s assurances, including his promise to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world,” sparked a historic monthlong rally for Bitcoin, which topped more than $100,000 in the weeks after his election.
It hit an all-time high of more than $109,000 on Inauguration Day but gradually fell in the following weeks. Earlier this month, Bitcoin dipped below $75,000 as Trump’s fluctuating tariff announcements sparked stock sell-offs in the global market.
“Macro events always impact investor behavior. Whether it’s interest rates, tariffs, or geopolitical stress,” Richardson said. “But crypto isn’t as isolated as some think. Bitcoin is increasingly behaving like a macro hedge. The real risk isn’t from trade policy but rather from uncertainty.”
Another crypto executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the industry should not be surprised by Trump’s noncrypto policy moves, even if they have ripple effects on the sector.
“The man has been saying that he wants to reorient trade for the last 40 years. This has not been ambiguous,” the executive told The Hill. “At some level, he's keeping the promises to us that he campaigned on around crypto. And it's totally fair that he keeps the promises to the people who he promised that he would try to reorient trade.”
“If you’re dealing with something as complex as the U.S. government, my view is it's almost impossible to have full intellectual consistency.”