From Skeptic to Champion
When Donald Trump returned to the White House, he brought a completely different attitude toward cryptocurrency than he had during his first term. Back then, his administration’s SEC sued Ripple, setting a tone of regulation through enforcement. This time, he arrived with campaign promises to make the U.S. the global leader in crypto. I think that shift surprised a lot of people who remembered his earlier skepticism.
He’s largely followed through on those promises, at least in terms of setting direction. Multiple executive orders laid out an agenda for regulators and Congress. He appointed people who would prioritize crypto-friendly policies. The administration even talked about creating a “golden age” for digital assets. One of the more ambitious ideas was establishing federal strategic reserves in bitcoin and other tokens—though that part remains incomplete.
The GENIUS Act and What Came After
The biggest concrete achievement so far is the stablecoin legislation. Trump pushed hard for it, and Congress managed to pass the GENIUS Act after some difficult negotiations. He celebrated that win at the White House with crypto CEOs and cabinet members present. That law provides a framework for stablecoin issuers, which was something the industry had wanted for years.
But the stablecoin bill was supposed to be just the beginning. The main course was always going to be broader market structure legislation—rules that would define how digital assets are classified and how transactions should be overseen. That’s where things have stalled.
Senate Gridlock and Political Complications
The House actually passed a market structure bill with unusual bipartisan support. But it hit a wall in the Senate. The reasons are familiar to anyone who follows Washington: the Senate requires 60 votes to advance most legislation, individual senators can block progress, and there’s limited floor time. A government shutdown in the middle of negotiations didn’t help either.
Democrats have raised concerns about consumer protection and preventing misuse of the technology. But the most politically charged criticism focuses on Trump himself. Since changing his position on crypto, he and his family have become deeply involved in the industry. There are NFT sales, a Trump-themed memecoin, mining operations, and most notably, World Liberty Financial.
That venture raised over $550 million even before Trump returned to office. Public disclosures later showed Trump family members controlling about 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, valued around $5 billion when trading began. The project has tried to evolve from a memecoin into a serious DeFi and payments platform.
Conflict of Interest Questions
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee called this situation a “new age of corruption.” They point out that Trump is directing crypto policy while having significant financial interests in the industry. At a recent hearing, Trump-appointed officials agreed that regulators shouldn’t have conflicts of interest with banks, but declined to say whether the same standard should apply to a president with crypto holdings.
The White House denies any conflict. A spokeswoman said the administration is fulfilling Trump’s promise to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world through innovation and economic opportunity.
Regulatory Appointments Making a Difference
Perhaps the most immediate impact has come from Trump’s appointments. He replaced Gary Gensler at the SEC with Paul Atkins, who launched “Project Crypto” and made it his top priority. Across financial agencies, Trump installed regulators eager to implement his crypto agenda.
Their initiatives are already moving forward—like the CFTC’s push for regulated platforms to offer leveraged spot crypto products—well before any comprehensive legislation emerges from Congress. Atkins has said that to achieve Trump’s vision, the SEC needs to consider moving markets from off-chain to on-chain environments.
The administration’s ambitious agenda remains incomplete, but the direction is clear. The question is whether the remaining pieces—particularly the market structure legislation—can navigate the Senate’s obstacles while addressing concerns about the president’s personal involvement in the industry he’s regulating.
