President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to regulate and promote the crypto industry, and also explore the creation of a digital-asset stockpile.
President Trump on Thursday announced the "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" executive order, which moved forward several campaign promises related to cryptocurrency regulation and banking.
The order "protects and promotes" the ability of individuals and entities to access and use public blockchain networks, develop and deploy software, participate in mining, validating and transactions, as well as maintain self-custody services. The order also calls for actions to promote the development and growth of dollar-backed stablecoins worldwide.
President Trump's order calls for promoting "fair and open access to banking services for all law-abiding individual citizens and private-sector entities alike," which addresses concerns from crypto industry leaders about de-banking under the Biden administration.
The order aims to provide regulatory clarity built on "technology-neutral" regulations and frameworks that account for emerging technologies. Trump's order prohibits the establishment and use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) within the U.S.
President Trump also revoked a previous crypto executive order and the Treasury Department's "Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets" from July 2022.
New Crypto Regulatory Group
President Trump also established the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, which will be led by AI and crypto czar David Saks.
The Working Group will include the Secretary of Treasury, Attorney General, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Homeland Security, Director of Office of Management and Budget, the SEC chairman, and the chairman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as assistants and advisors for other government bodies.
Within 180 days, the Working Group will submit a report to recommend regulatory proposals covering the framework for issuing and operating digital assets, as well as stablecoins, including oversight and risk management.
The Working Group will also evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital-asset stockpile. President Trump has regularly promised to create a national bitcoin reserve and to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world." The digital-asset stockpile may derive some of its cryptocurrencies from previous federal government seizures and law-enforcement efforts.
Bitcoin Price Action
Bitcoin fell below $103,000 Thursday following the order, down from around $106,000 earlier in the day.
Many of the announcements in the executive order were expected, so there wasn't much "new" news to excite investors.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman noted earlier in the week that many traders are likely participating in some profit-taking after bitcoin hit a record $109,225 on Monday.
Still, digital-asset prices are expected to accelerate this year due to broad investment and development from the public and private sectors.
"Today's crypto executive order marks a sea change in U.S. digital-asset policy," Nathan McCauley, CEO of institutional crypto custodian Anchorage Digital, wrote in a statement. "By taking a whole-of-government approach to crypto, the administration is making a significant first step toward writing clear, consistent rules of the road."
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