Trump 2.0: What new changes are coming to cryptocurrency regulation? A review of key policy adjustments in the eight weeks since he took office

Author: Weilin, PANews

Since Trump officially started his second presidential term on January 20, the US cryptocurrency regulatory landscape has been full of "plots" and climaxes. In just eight weeks, from the resignation of the SEC chairman to Trump's signing of two consecutive executive orders - announcing the development of digital assets and officially announcing the strategic reserve of Bitcoin, to the White House holding the first digital asset summit, the crypto market has been constantly responding, fluctuating up and down with various policy changes. It can be said that the entire industry is both excited and nervous.

This article will review these significant crypto regulatory policy initiatives according to different policy categories and interpret their far-reaching impact on the crypto industry.

Trump signs executive order on strengthening American leadership in digital financial technology

On January 23, the third day after US President Trump took office, he signed the crypto executive order "Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Digital Financial Technology", proposing the establishment of a "Presidential Digital Asset Market Working Group" to explore federal regulatory measures for stablecoins and related plans for national digital asset reserves, and explicitly prohibiting the "establishment, issuance, circulation or use" of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

SEC Chairman changes, multiple regulatory strategies adjusted significantly

Last July, at the Bitcoin 2024 conference held in Nashville, Trump gave a speech promising to remove Gary Gensler, the SEC chairman who has been criticized by the crypto industry, on his first day in office. On November 22, 2024, the SEC announced that Gary Gensler would step down on the first day of Trump's presidency. On January 20 of this year, he officially stepped down. His successor is Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners LLC and former SEC commissioner, and the nomination is currently awaiting confirmation by Congress.

On January 22, the SEC immediately established a crypto task force and began to adjust its regulatory strategy, reducing the team that was responsible for cryptocurrency law enforcement actions and transferring some lawyers. The SEC also launched the website of the Crypto Task Force, and the head of the task force, Hester Peirce, listed ten priority tasks, focusing on the classification and regulation of crypto assets.

On January 24, the SEC announced the withdrawal of SAB 121, a crypto accounting policy that has been criticized by the crypto industry, in its latest Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122. SAB 121 (Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121) requires digital asset custodians to treat digital assets as liabilities and list them on the balance sheet at fair value. The cryptocurrency industry is generally concerned that it may prevent banks from keeping digital assets and exclude banks from the crypto market.

In addition, on May 22 last year, the FIT21 bill was passed by the House of Representatives, which was regarded as a historic breakthrough for the U.S. crypto industry. The bill resolves the long-standing differences between the SEC and the CFTC on cryptocurrency regulation, and the bill is currently being promoted.

SEC drops class action lawsuit against crypto companies

On February 27, the SEC terminated its investigation into Gemini Trust without taking enforcement action. Prior to this, the SEC had withdrawn its lawsuit against Coinbase and terminated its investigations into OpenSea, Robinhood, and Uniswap. In the seventh week of Trump's presidency (March 3-9), the SEC agreed to drop its lawsuit against Kraken without paying a fine or admitting any violations, and Kraken's business model was not affected.

Redefining “Exchange” to Overturn IRS Rules for DeFi Brokers

On March 11, the SEC was evaluating a proposal to redefine “exchange,” which could provide clearer guidance for the regulatory framework for U.S. crypto trading platforms.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to overturn the IRS's broker rules for decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. The rules require crypto entities to collect specific taxpayer and transaction information, which is difficult for DeFi platforms to enforce. Previously, the U.S. Senate had voted to pass the resolution, but due to budget rules, it still needs to vote again before it can be sent to President Trump for signature.

Pardon Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht

On January 22, Trump fulfilled another promise made at the Bitcoin 2024 conference by pardoning Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Ross Ulbricht later expressed his gratitude to Trump on Twitter for releasing him after 11 years in prison.

SEC, CFTC, Treasury, Commerce, and others appoint crypto-friendly officials

On January 20, after the presidential inauguration ceremony, the White House announced that the newly sworn-in President Trump has appointed Republican Mark Uyeda as acting chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier, Trump announced that he would nominate Paul Atkins as chairman of the SEC.

In the second week of Trump's presidency, the Senate confirmed his nominee for new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a financial tycoon who is open to cryptocurrencies.

In the fourth week, Trump nominated Brian Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner and executive at Kalshi, an event betting market, as the new head of the regulatory agency.

In the fifth week, billionaire Howard Lutnick was confirmed as the next Secretary of Commerce, and the market immediately began to pay attention to how he would affect the regulatory environment of the crypto industry.

In both the Senate and the House of Representatives, there are crypto-friendly officials holding important positions. On January 23, the Senate Banking Committee established a Digital Asset Committee, chaired by Senator Cynthia Lummis, to promote industry compliance. On March 3, the Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and Congressman Ritchie Torres jointly established the "Congressional Crypto Caucus" to promote legislation that is beneficial to the crypto industry and form a voting alliance in favor of digital assets in the lower house of Congress.

Official announcement of strategic Bitcoin reserves and digital asset reserves

In the sixth week of his presidency (February 24-March 2), Trump announced five major crypto strategic reserve categories on social media platforms. The US cryptocurrency strategic reserve will include BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA. The inclusion of ADA has caused controversy and has been dubbed "advertising space" by some market participants. However, on March 7, David Sacks, the king of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, said that ADA, SOL, and XRP were mentioned because they are the top five cryptocurrencies in terms of market value.

On the morning of March 7th, Beijing time, the strategic Bitcoin reserve promised by Trump has arrived! David Sacks announced on the X platform that US President Trump has officially signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a digital asset reserve. However, since both reserves are mainly supported by "proceeds from criminal or civil asset forfeiture", the prices of BTC and other tokens in the market reacted negatively in the short term, and then rebounded slightly.

In addition to the president's executive order, in terms of congressional legislation, on March 12, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has resubmitted the Bitcoin Act (Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide Act of 2025) to the 119th Congress, which will allow the U.S. government to hold more than 1 million bitcoins. The bill was originally proposed in July 2024, requiring the U.S. government to purchase 200,000 bitcoins per year for five years, with funds coming from adjustments to existing funds from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. After this revision, the U.S. government can hold additional bitcoins through legal means (including civil or criminal forfeiture, donations, or transfers by federal agencies).

Convened the first White House digital asset conference and the White House digital asset summit

In the third week of Trump's presidency (February 3-9), David Sacks and several U.S. congressional lawmakers held their first press conference on digital assets on Capitol Hill, detailing the White House and Congress' latest plans to develop digital assets in the United States. Sacks said at the meeting that he looked forward to working with congressional lawmakers and announced in a high-profile manner that he would "create a golden age of digital assets."

On March 7, local time, the United States held its first White House Digital Asset Summit, and President Trump delivered a brief speech at the summit. He said, "Last year, I promised to make the United States a global Bitcoin superpower and the world's crypto capital. We are taking historic action to fulfill this promise, and suggested: "From today, the United States will follow the rules that every Bitcoin holder knows well - never sell your Bitcoin."

Trump mentioned that he would end the Biden administration's "Operation Stifling 2.0" against the crypto industry. However, despite news from the scene that the summit was recognized by industry leaders, the meeting did not bring about an increase in the prices of assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the cryptocurrency market fell significantly after the summit.

The market is seeing a surge in applications for crypto ETFs

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 statistics from Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, the current market approval probability for LTC, DOGE, SOL and XRP spot ETFs is relatively high. The market's expectations for other mainstream crypto asset ETFs to be launched in the US capital market have clearly increased.

As the SEC has undergone important personnel changes, its policies tend to be more friendly to cryptocurrencies. If the United States launches an altcoin ETF, it may directly lead to other countries and regions in the world to follow suit. Bloomberg analysts expect the SEC to make a decision on the proposed altcoin ETF in October this year.

Senate holds hearing on "de-banking"

On the evening of February 5, the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing on the theme of "Investigating the Real Impact of Debanking on the United States". Witnesses included Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, Stephen Gannon, partner of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Mike Ring, president and CEO of Old Glory Bank, and Aaron Klein, senior fellow of economic studies at the Brookings Institution. The hearing explored the impact of bank account closures and financial service restrictions on businesses and individuals, and studied relevant policy responses.

On February 11, local time, at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that in view of the criticism that the crypto industry has been excluded from banking services, it is time to "re-examine" the issue of de-banking. Senate Banking Committee Chairman and Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina asked Powell if he agreed to commit to working with lawmakers to end de-banking; Powell agreed. Discussions on "de-banking" are expected to be further developed this year.

US states show strong interest in Bitcoin reserves

As of March 4, 24 U.S. states have proposed draft crypto reserve bills. Most states are still in the draft or House review stage. A few states are progressing rapidly (such as Texas and Utah), while five states (Pennsylvania, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and South Dakota) have had their bills rejected. The reasons for the rejection are concerns about the risks and volatility associated with digital assets, taxpayer funding risks, high energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining, and the possibility that digital currencies may be used for illegal activities.

Texas, which is at the forefront, has previously passed SB 21, which provides for the creation of a state-managed fund to hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Texas Comptroller will be responsible for overseeing the reserve, which will hold cryptocurrencies with a market value of at least $500 billion and will be eligible for state budget appropriations.

Legislation surrounding the regulatory framework for stablecoins

On February 5, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty proposed the GENIUS Act, which would bring stablecoins such as USDT and USDC into the regulatory framework of the Federal Reserve and provide compliance guidance. As of March 12, the U.S. Senate has updated the bill, which specifically expands the "reciprocal terms for stablecoin payments in overseas jurisdictions."

At the White House summit, Trump instructed his policy executors to push for stablecoin legislation and plan to complete it before the August congressional recess. The original goal was to submit legislation within the first 100 days of his term, but the timetable has now been extended by four months.

Conclusion

In general, since Trump took office 8 weeks ago, a series of major adjustments have taken place in the US crypto regulation, from policy direction to key personnel changes, all pointing to a more open regulatory environment. Can the US really become the world's cryptocurrency capital as Trump said? Policy uncertainty remains, and the market reaction is also cautious. The future regulatory trend still needs to be continuously monitored.