According to Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek, US President Donald Trump has made cryptocurrency a focal point of his economic strategy, signaling a significant policy shift for the US blockchain industry. Trump recently hosted a White House Crypto Summit on March 7, indicating his intention to prioritize crypto policy as a national agenda and establish the US as a global hub for blockchain innovation.
Marszalek praised Trump for reversing policies like Operation Chokepoint 2.0, which allegedly resulted in crypto and tech companies being denied banking services during the Biden administration. Following Trump’s commitment to ending the prolonged crackdown on crypto firms’ access to banking services, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) relaxed its stance on how banks can engage with crypto, potentially eliminating the difficulties of finding banking partners for crypto firms.
The Crypto Summit coincides with the pending congressional approval of two major bills: the Stablecoin bill and the Market Structure bill. These bills aim to address the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the US crypto industry. Marszalek believes that ongoing dialogue with key regulators such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could lead to the passage of “landmark legislation.” He further stated that the establishment of these regulatory frameworks will have a global impact and facilitate the transfer of offshore activity onshore and offchain activity onchain.
On March 7, Trump signed an executive order outlining a plan to establish a Bitcoin reserve using cryptocurrency seized in government criminal cases instead of actively acquiring Bitcoin through market purchases. While the executive order did not announce direct BTC purchases, it allowed the US Treasury and Commerce secretaries to develop “budget-neutral strategies” to acquire more Bitcoin for the reserve, as long as it does not impose additional costs on American taxpayers. Some analysts view this Bitcoin reserve plan as the first significant step in integrating Bitcoin into the global financial system.
Despite Trump’s previous intentions to promote crypto innovation in the US, implementing regulatory frameworks takes time, and it is crucial for the administration to set the “right regulatory tone,” according to Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of Fideum, a regulatory and blockchain infrastructure firm focused on institutions.