SALT LAKE CITY — President Donald Trump took another step toward his promise to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” on Thursday, signing an executive order aimed at promoting the domestic cryptocurrency sector and exploring the possibility of a new national digital asset stockpile.
“The digital asset industry plays a crucial role in innovation and economic development in the United States, as well as our nation’s international leadership,” the order states. “It is therefore the policy of my administration to support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.”
The order includes direction for creating the new Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets that will be tasked with “developing a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile.”
Historically, federal law enforcement officials have auctioned off cryptocurrency assets seized in criminal investigations, per a report from CNBC.
According to the order, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks will lead the group that will also include the Treasury secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and “the heads of other relevant departments and agencies.”
A White House fact sheet accompanying the order notes the effort is aimed at “eliminating regulatory overreach on digital assets and protecting American economic liberty.”
Trump’s crypto about-face
In the run-up to the 2024 election, Trump reversed his former stance as a critic of the digital currency market, which he described in one instance as a “scam” during his first term. He has since pivoted to being a crypto proponent and made repeated campaign pledges to create a friendly space for the sector. Among his pro-crypto comments was a promise made during a speech at a cryptocurrency conference last summer that, under his administration, “The rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry.”
Trump made good on that pledge last month, selecting Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins, who served as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, is widely known as a strong supporter of the cryptocurrency market.
Trump highlighted Atkins’ stance on digital currencies in an announcement of the selection, posted on Truth Social in December.
“Paul is a proven leader for common sense regulations,” Trump wrote. “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before.”
How crypto markets reacted to Trump winning a second term
Trump’s pro-digital currency stance has fueled value spikes across the cryptocurrency market, including Bitcoin, which broke the $100,000 mark for the first time in early December and flirted with $110,000 later in the month before pricing eased a bit. The digital token ended 2024 up over 100% for the year, with about half that gain realized after Trump’s election victory in early November.
Bitcoin set another high value benchmark on Monday ahead of the inauguration, rising to over $109,000 before easing later in the day. Around midday Friday, Bitcoin was trading for just under $107,000 per token, according to tracking by CoinGecko.
The president and first lady Melania Trump took their own personal plunges into the cryptocurrency markets, separately releasing the Official Trump and Melania meme coins ahead of Monday’s inauguration ceremony.
The Official Trump token entered the market on Jan. 17 at around $6.50. At midday Friday, the coin was trading for just over $33, earning a market capitalization of more than $6.6 billion, according to tracking by CoinGecko.
The Melania coin was trading well below its opening market value of just under $8.50 on Jan. 19, trading at about $2.60 as of midday on Friday, per CoinGecko.
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