Authors: Gram Slattery, Chris Prentice and Jarrett Renshaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump plans to apply his executive powers to ease regulatory burdens facing cryptocurrency companies and promote adoption of digital assets in his first few days in office, according to three people briefed on the plan.
Trump, who courted cryptocurrencies during the campaign by promising to become a “crypto president,” is expected to sign an executive order establishing a cryptocurrency advisory board, an idea he first floated in July, said two sources who asked to discuss private considerations in anonymity.
Bloomberg News first reported on Thursday that Trump plans to issue an executive order establishing a crypto council that would aid advise the government on cryptocurrency-friendly policies. According to one source, it could have had as many as 20 members.
Trump’s advisers have also discussed using an executive order directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to repeal fiscal 2022 accounting guidance known as “SAB 121,” which made it too costly for some companies, especially banks, to hold cryptocurrencies on behalf of third parties. people said.
Trump is also expected to order an end to “Operation Choke Point 2.0” – a term cryptocurrency executives apply to describe what they say is a concerted effort by bank regulators to squeeze crypto companies out of the established financial system by telling banks to turn them away services.
Banking regulators deny the existence of such efforts.
Reuters was unable to determine whether Trump would lead the changes through one or more executive orders, but sources said the goal was to quickly send a mighty signal that the modern administration broadly supports the adoption of digital assets.
If implemented by the appropriate regulators, Trump’s expected policy directives have the potential to push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, regulatory and cryptocurrency experts say.
That’s a stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s regulators, who, eager to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering, have cracked down on crypto companies, suing Coinbase (NASDAQ:), Binance, Kraken and dozens of others in federal court.
Critics of the cryptocurrency industry point to the fall of top cryptocurrency executives Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was briefly imprisoned for money laundering violations, as evidence of the industry’s dangers.
A representative for Trump, who counts many cryptocurrency supporters among his financial supporters and selected cabinet members, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cryptocurrency regulation is just one of several topics Trump is expected to tackle through executive orders in the early days of his second four-year term.
The modern president’s team has promised dozens of executive orders on topics ranging from energy production to illegal immigration.
