President Trump called on Congress
to pass a major cryptocurrency bill that would tilt regulation in the industry’s
favor.
·
Trump
meets crypto executives:
President Donald Trump hosted leading cryptocurrency executives at the White
House, publicly demonstrating his strong support for the industry.
·
Meeting
had an official purpose:
The gathering formally launched a new “innovation
advisory committee” of business leaders advising the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on crypto and financial-market issues.
·
Major
conflicts of interest highlighted: Trump’s family crypto business reportedly generated $1.4 billion for him last year,
raising concerns over the overlap between his government responsibilities and
family business interests.
·
Trump-linked
executives attended:
Participants included:
o Sergey Nazarov, Chainlink
co-founder, whose company partnered with Trump family crypto venture World Liberty Financial.
o Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo,
another World Liberty partner.
o Brian Armstrong, Coinbase founder.
o Arjun Sethi, Kraken CEO.
·
Trump
urges passage of Clarity Act: Trump called on Congress to approve the Clarity Act,
legislation intended to establish a broad, business-friendly regulatory
framework for cryptocurrencies.
·
China
cited as a reason:
Trump described the legislation as powerful and said it would help the U.S. stay ahead of China in cryptocurrency
and blockchain technology.
·
Senate
remains a major obstacle: A House version of the Clarity Act has already passed
with bipartisan support, but the Senate has yet to vote because Democrats are demanding
stronger safeguards against public officials—including Trump—profiting from
digital assets.
·
Trump's
transformation on crypto: Trump was previously skeptical
of cryptocurrency but embraced it during the 2024 presidential campaign
and subsequently made crypto a major component of his family's business
interests.
·
SEC
has shifted toward a crypto-friendly approach: The SEC has dropped
lawsuits against major crypto firms such as Coinbase and Kraken and has begun
easing restrictions on the industry's ability to raise capital.
·
GENIUS
Act created stablecoin rules: Trump also signed the GENIUS Act,
establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins
linked to the U.S. dollar.
·
World
Liberty faces bank-charter controversy: A Treasury Department office recently gave a World
Liberty affiliate preliminary
approval for a limited bank charter. Trump and his sons hold
substantial interests in the company.
·
Potential
financial advantage:
The charter could allow World Liberty to issue its own stablecoin
rather than paying BitGo to do so, potentially
reducing its costs. The charter would not permit retail deposits or lending.
·
Democrats
accuse Trump of self-dealing: Senator Elizabeth
Warren called the proposed charter an extraordinary example of
self-dealing and said she would introduce legislation to block it.
·
White
House rejects conflict allegations: The administration argues that the charter would not
create a conflict of interest and says Trump acts in the public interest.
·
SEC
proposes easier capital raising: The SEC has proposed allowing companies to raise as much
as $75 million annually
without registering with the agency, giving crypto companies
greater flexibility to obtain capital.
·
Trump
praises SEC Chairman Paul Atkins: Atkins appeared alongside Trump at the meeting and
received strong praise from the president for his crypto-friendly approach.
The
meeting shows that crypto
has become a central part of Trump's economic and regulatory agenda,
while simultaneously creating unusually significant conflicts between public
policy and his family's private crypto interests. The Clarity Act is the industry's key
legislative priority, but its progress depends on whether
Senate Democrats and Republicans can agree on safeguards concerning Trump's
personal and family involvement in cryptocurrency.
President Trump met with crypto executives at the White House
on Wednesday, voicing his support for an industry that has generated enormous wealth
for him and his family and calling on Congress to pass a major cryptocurrency bill.
Mr. Trump convened the group in the Roosevelt Room, where
he reeled off the names of his industry visitors, some of whom are business partners
of his family’s crypto company.
“Great group of people,” Mr. Trump said as he surveyed the
room. “Tremendous investors, brilliant people.”
Officially, the meeting was a kickoff
event for a new “innovation advisory committee,” a group of business leaders assembled
to advise the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of the regulatory agencies
that oversees crypto. But it was also a vivid display of Mr. Trump’s tangled relationship
with the crypto industry, a business that brought in $1.4 billion for him last year,
creating enormous conflicts of interest.
Among the attendees was Sergey Nazarov,
the co-founder of Chainlink, a company that formed a partnership
last year with the Trump family’s crypto start-up, World Liberty Financial. Another
executive, Mike Belshe, heads BitGo,
a World Liberty partner that Mr. Trump described at the meeting as “a big deal.”
Also in the room were Brian Armstrong, the founder of the
crypto exchange Coinbase, and Arjun
Sethi, the chief executive of the Kraken exchange. Both
companies offer venues for buying and selling several coins launched by the Trumps.
The White House and World Liberty have repeatedly denied any conflicts of interest.
“The New York Times apparently thinks the president of the
United States praising the leaders of well-known American companies is a controversy,”
said David Wachsman, a World Liberty spokesman.
Mr. Trump met with the executives at a high-stakes moment
in the crypto world. The industry’s top priority is the passage of a bill called
the Clarity Act, which would create business-friendly rules for the technology.
In recent weeks, the bill has faced hurdles in the Senate, where Democrats have
pushed for language that would bar public officials, including the president, from
selling digital currencies.
At the White House meeting, Mr. Trump steered clear of the
major questions surrounding the legislation. But he called on Congress to pass the
Clarity Act, describing it as “very, very powerful structured legislation, which
will keep us ahead of China.”
A onetime crypto skeptic, Mr. Trump embraced the technology on the campaign trail in 2024
and soon turned it into a cornerstone of his family business. Last year, the Securities
and Exchange Commission ended a long-running crackdown, dropping lawsuits against
some of the largest crypto firms, including Coinbase and Kraken.
Mr. Trump also signed a bill called the GENIUS Act, which
he joked on Wednesday he had named for himself. The law created rules for stablecoins, a popular cryptocurrency
tied to the U.S. dollar.
But lately the industry has run into problems in Washington.
For years, crypto executives have lobbied Congress to create
a broad regulatory framework governing the industry. The aim was to cement some
of Mr. Trump’s pro-crypto policy changes, ensuring that a future president would
be unable to reverse them.
A version of the Clarity Act passed the House of Representatives
last year, with support from Democrats and Republicans. So far, however, the Senate
has not held a vote, because Democrats have demanded tougher rules to stop Mr. Trump
from profiting from crypto.
As the executives gathered at the White House on Wednesday,
Democrats in Congress were voicing outrage over a new commingling of the interests
of the Trump family’s business with the administration’s duties.
Last week, a Treasury Department office granted an affiliate
of World Liberty preliminary approval for a limited bank charter. The president
and his sons have a hefty stake in World Liberty. The Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency supervises banks.
A charter would save World Liberty money by allowing it to
issue its stablecoin on its own. Right now, it pays BitGo to do that. The license would not allow it to take deposits
from retail customers or issue loans.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, called
the pending charter “the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has
ever seen” and said she would introduce a bill to try to stop it.
Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, denied that a bank
charter for World Liberty would present any conflict of interest. “This is the same
tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family and
his administration for a decade,” she said. “President Trump only acts in the best
interests of the American public.”
At the meeting, crypto executives celebrated some of their
recent victories, including a push from the S.E.C. to give them new leeway to raise
capital without federal oversight.
The agency on Tuesday proposed rules that would allow companies
to raise up to $75 million per year without registering. Generally, businesses are
required to register with the S.E.C. to solicit funds from investors.
The S.E.C. chairman, Paul Atkins, stood alongside Mr. Trump
at the White House. “We’re all happy with Paul,” Mr. Trump said from the lectern.
“He’s been absolutely fantastic.”
As the session ended, Mr. Trump led the visiting crypto executives
into the Oval Office.
“We’re going to show them a real office,” he said. “Their
offices are nice, but this is nicer.”