The first 30 days in office: What significant changes has Trump brought to the Crypto Asset industry

Author of the article: Aaron Wood Article Source: Cointelegraph Article compiled: Ada, MetaEra President Donald Trump has been sworn in and has begun a comprehensive and controversial reform for a month, many of which directly affect the cryptocurrency industry. Just 30 days into his presidency, Trump selected several executives who support cryptocurrencies to serve in senior regulatory positions and created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary organization with Musk as its de facto leader. In a Feb. 18 interview between Trump and Musk, the duo said that DOGE, as well as Musk himself, aims to provide "technical support" to the government, streamline the government's wasteful spending, and fundamentally restructure federal institutions. Here are the major cryptocurrency-related events in Trump's 30 days in office. January 20 – Trump's World Liberty Financial buys tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency on the day of its inauguration On the first day of his inauguration, Trump issued a series of executive orders - to be exact, 42 of them. The cryptocurrency industry was disappointed to learn that none of them were aimed at them, but cryptocurrency supporters did not wait too long. On the day of the inauguration, World Liberty Financial (WLFI(), the Trump family's decentralized finance business, purchased nearly $47 million in cryptocurrency to commemorate the inauguration. The purchase brings WLFI's total holdings to $326 million.

January 21 – The SEC changes leadership and changes cryptocurrency strategy On January 21, the Trump administration began making changes to the leadership of key federal agencies, including the SEC, nominating SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to succeed Gary Gensler. While Gary Gensler is awaiting confirmation from the Senate - as of the time of writing, he has not yet been confirmed - Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda (Mark Uyeda) is leading the agency to treat the cryptocurrency industry in a more friendly manner. Uyeda criticized the enforcement actions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under Gensler's leadership, calling it "neither conducive to capital formation nor protective of investors". January 21 – The SEC task force begins to address crypto policy issues On January 21, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC), under the direction of crypto support commissioner Hester Peirce, formed a cryptocurrency working group to quickly begin refining cryptocurrency regulations. Acting Chair Ayuda said the main goal of the group is to "help the Commission chart a clear regulatory pathway, provide a practical pathway, develop a sound regulatory framework, and deploy enforcement resources wisely." ” January 22 - Silk Road founder granted pardon On January 22, Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who has been serving nearly a decade in federal prison. After years of hard work by prison reform advocates, liberal groups, and cryptocurrency insiders, the president finally pardoned him.

Since 2015, Ubbelish has been serving his sentence, and Trump fulfilled his campaign promise to release him immediately upon taking office. January 23 – Trump inaugurates the Crypto Task Force On January 23, Trump, by executive order, established an "internal task force to make the U.S. the world capital of cryptocurrency." The task of the group is to study the feasibility of establishing a national cryptocurrency reserve and to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. It also prohibits the creation of central bank digital currencies. The task force is composed of the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, members of Trump's Cabinet, and other relevant agency heads. Notably, the order explicitly excludes the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The group will report to the government's official AI and crypto czar David Sachs (David Sacks). January 27 - The U.S. Senate confirmed the Treasury Secretary who supports cryptocurrency On January 27, the U.S. Senate voted 68-29 to approve Scott Bessent's nomination as U.S. Treasury secretary. When Trump first appointed B. Sente in November 2024, Fox business reporter Eleanor Terrett (Eleanor Terrett) described him as "very pro-crypto, especially Bitcoin." "I'm very excited about the president's support for cryptocurrency, which I think fits very well with the Republican Party, that crypto represents freedom and that the crypto economy is here to stay," he reportedly said. ” Feb. 2 – Trump's tariffs hit the stock and crypto markets On February 2, Trump signed another executive order imposing tariffs on goods produced in Mexico, Canada and China. The market reacted sharply, with some tech stocks posting their biggest single-day drop on Wall Street. Trump eventually suspended tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but the move was seen as his economic strategy. The ensuing impact of the crypto market also highlights the growing correlation between crypto assets and traditional financial markets.

Feb. 3 – Trump fires the head of the consumer protection regulator On Feb. 3, Trump fired Rohit Chopra, the (CFPB) director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, (Rohit Chopra). The CFPB regulates the financial sector and has jurisdiction over banks, securities firms, payday lenders, and other for-profit institutions. In an official notice, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Bessent would serve as the acting head of the government agency until a successor was found. The exact reasons behind this move are not yet clear. However, there are reports that this is part of a number of measures to reduce regulation in the banking industry, which Musk had previously called to 'cancel'. February 7th - CFTC Chairman Resigns On February 7, former CFTC President Rostin Behnam announced that it was his last day in the agency, having previously served as a CFTC commissioner and chair of the regulator for eight years. Benin previously said he would leave his post a month early, allowing a new acting chairman to take his place until a new chairman was appointed.

Benin calls on legislators to establish clear guidelines for cryptocurrencies and says, "The era of cryptocurrencies highlights the need for us to establish rules to address the direction of the derivatives industry." February 9 – Tariffs cause the price of Bitcoin to plummet again On Feb. 9, Trump announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., and said he would impose corresponding tariffs on those countries that impose tariffs on U.S. goods. The White House's further aggressive economic policies caused the price of bitcoin to plummet at one point. Market watchers expect market volatility to increase further due to Trump's idea of tariffs on the European Union, semiconductors, oil, gas, steel and copper. February 12 – Trump swaps prisoners with Russia On February 12, the United States exchanged Alexander Vinnick (Alexander Vinnik), a former operator of the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, for the (Marc Fogel) of Mark Fogel, an American teacher detained by Russia. In May 2024, Vinnik pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy by illegally transferring funds through the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. Furgal has been detained in Russia since 2021 for possessing marijuana at the Moscow airport. February 12 – Nomination of a new CFTC chair Just a week after Behnam stepped down, Trump nominated former CFTC commissioner and executive at the sports betting market Kalshi, Brian Quintenz (Brian Quintenz), to be the new head of the regulatory agency.

Quintz also worked at A16Z, a crypto-pro-crypto venture capital firm, and he expects to bring welcome change to the crypto industry as he has made several pro-crypto statements. He reportedly gave several presentations on Bitcoin and decentralized finance during his time at the CFTC. Feb. 17 – DOGE will challenge the SEC After a wave and restructuring of other federal agencies, the next target for DOGE under Musk's actual leadership is the SEC, according to reports. "They're at the door," an anonymous source said in a Feb. 17 Politico report. A DOGE-linked account on X (of which there are dozens) published a post on Feb. 18 asking for information about "detecting and addressing SEC waste and fraud."

Feb. 19 – The Senate confirms Donald Trump's choice for secretary of commerce On February 19, the U.S. Senate confirmed billionaire Howard Lutnick as the next Secretary of Commerce. Immediately after the 52-45 vote, Lutnik resigned as CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Although his company holds a stake in crypto stablecoin issuer Tether, Lutnik said he would sell his stake in commercial and other private investments within 90 days. What is Trump's next plan? It has been an eventful time for the current president of the United States. Although he didn't touch crypto on his first day in office, he made up for it with a plethora of executive orders over the next few days. Many of Trump's pro-crypto nominees have already been appointed, and they are expected to roll out crypto-friendly policies that solidify the industry's growth potential in the coming years. The president's allies in Congress have begun drafting stablecoin legislation in an effort to 'bring' the industry into the United States. At the state level, momentum is gaining to create state bitcoin reserves, and cryptocurrency-focused legislators are taking action at the local level.