Crypto Industry Scores Big Win With Trump’s Presidential Victory
The crypto industry is celebrating a significant win with the presidential victory of Donald Trump, with many industry executives and companies pouring tens of millions of dollars into his campaign. According to Benchmark’s Bill Gurley, the industry’s support for Trump was built on the Republican leader’s promise to stop the government’s crackdown on crypto and implement regulations favorable to those who wanted to develop new types of payment technologies.
Trump’s first big nod to the crypto industry came earlier in the week, with the signing of an executive order to promote digital asset adoption in the U.S. The order outlined key priorities, including protecting bitcoin miners and software developers from “persecution,” and promoting U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins, while banning a digital dollar from the Federal Reserve.
The industry is also celebrating the withdrawal of an accounting rule, known as SAB 121, which subjected digital assets to strict capital requirements and raised financial and regulatory risks for financial institutions. The SEC’s announcement came after years of efforts to overturn the rule, which gained bipartisan support in Congress.
The CEOs of major companies, including Coinbase and Binance, are praising the start of a new era for the industry. Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong told CNBC that the last four years had been a “bad” time for crypto, with the Biden administration attempting to “weaponize the lack of clarity in the rules.” Armstrong criticized the administration for going after even the good actors, like Coinbase, while allowing bad actors to flourish.
Bitcoin hit a record high of around $109,000 on Monday, and has remained near $105,000 by the end of the week, up more than 50% since Trump’s election victory in early November.
However, not all of Trump’s actions in the past week have been universally praised by the crypto industry. The president has been criticized for launching meme coins, which some see as a scam and potentially damaging to the credibility of the industry. A letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jake Auchincloss raised concerns about the decision by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to launch the meme coins, which they argue allows them to earn profits off their presidency.
Despite these concerns, the crypto industry remains optimistic about Trump’s presidency, with many believing that the executive order and other actions will create a more favorable environment for growth and adoption.