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FRANCE – 01/20/2025: In this photo illustration, the Trump Meme, President Trump Crypto, appears on a phone screen. (Photo illustration by Romain Doucelin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Cryptocurrency company leaders are optimistic about comprehensive federal rule changes for the industry this year now that bitcoin backer Donald Trump is back in the White House.
general manager of CoinbaseBinance and Circle told CNBC they now see a clearer path to securing specific rules for digital assets — unlike the previous US administration, which took aggressive enforcement action against several major crypto companies.
Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong said Trump sees crypto entering “the dawn of a new day” with a US administration.
“You have to remember: For the last four years, we really felt like we were being attacked by this administration,” Armstrong told CNBC in a televised interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual event in Davos, Switzerland.
“They tried to weaponize the lack of clarity in the rules to really push back, even on good actors,” Armstrong added. “There were some bad actors, to be fair, but they also tried to go after good actors, I think, like us.”
Coinbase is the largest crypto trading platform in the US. The company often pitches itself as a regulated alternative to offshore exchanges like Binance.
Clarity of regulations to promote the sector
It was launched by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday “crypto group” It aims to “develop a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto-assets”.
The SEC panel will be responsible for developing a clear set of rules for the crypto industry, and also address issues related to coin registration, according to a statement from the agency.
Coinbase’s Armstrong said the current top priority for crypto as an industry is working to pass legislation in the US to provide clarity.
“The industry is ready for this new change,” he told CNBC. “They are ready for clear rules. And that is our big push.”
Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, highlighted token issuance, trading and asset management as the key things he hopes to see progress on crypto-specific legislation in the US.
Teng said he sees “much clearer regulation” happening in the US this year, which would be helpful. bitcoin and other digital assets.
“If you look at past cycles, this year will be the year we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng said during a CNBC-hosted discussion in Davos, Switzerland.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, broke the $100,000 price mark for the first time last year as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under a Trump administration.
As of Wednesday, the token was trading at a price of around $104,000, according to data from CoinGecko.
US strategic bitcoin reserve
Binance’s Teng also hopes the US will establish a strategic bitcoin reserve — something Trump suggested he would do during his campaign.
Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s CEO, said he thinks “it would be prudent for central banks to hold some reserves in something like bitcoin,” which could lead to a return to commodity-backed money.
“If we look back when we decoupled from sovereign-free commodity money, we saw massive abuses around the world through fiat and it continues,” Allaire said. “The vast majority of the world’s governments are significantly in debt.”
“It’s been a kind of open-heart surgery, shock therapy, to get out of that vicious circle in a place like Argentina. And I respect that it’s an important issue for the US government right now,” he added.
Trump has previously suggested that the US national bitcoin reserve could be protected by crypto-assets seized from criminal operations, such as hackers and fraud rings.
Stablecoin laws are expected
Along with a pro-crypto president, the US now has senators and representatives who are pro-technology and pro-regulatory, which is “absolutely appropriate,” Allaire stressed.
Allaire noted that there are already “American champions” in the crypto space, such as Circle, Coinbase and blockchain platform Solana. “I think under this new administration, we’re going to see rapid progress in making regulations and policies to move this industry forward,” he said.
Circle’s CEO sees the US advancing legislation specifically around so-called stablecoins — digital tokens designed to be pegged to real-world assets like the dollar — which already have bipartisan support in Congress. The circle is behind USDCwhich is one of the largest stable coins.
The Clarity of the Payment Stablecoins ActA bill seeking to establish a regulatory framework for licensing stablecoin issuers was working its way through Congress before last year’s election. It has yet to pass a House vote.
