Trump Creates Working Group to Study Bitcoin Stockpile, Other Changes for Crypto — Barrons.com
By Joe LightPresident Trump signed an executive order meant to spur the crypto industry in the U.S. It marks a 180-degree turn from the crackdown seen under President Biden's administration, but stops short of creating the Bitcoin "strategic reserve" the industry has hoped for.Instead, the heart of Thursday's order is a crypto working group to study the potential stockpile and a new regulatory framework for the currencies. The group will be led by White House crypto and artificial intelligence czar David Sacks and will include the heads of the Treasury Department, Justice Department, and Securities and Exchange Commission, among other agency leaders. It will submit a report to the president outlining regulatory and legislative proposals within 180 days.Bitcoin was down about 1% to $103,000 on Thursday.The order bans the government from establishing a central-bank digital currency, though there wasn't a serious effort to create one in the country anyway.On the campaign trail, Trump had made clear that promoting crypto would be at the top of his agenda. He touted the creation of a crypto stockpile and promised that he would end the crackdown on digital assets the SEC pursued under former Chair Gary Gensler."While each of the leaders Trump assembled have experience and vision for the future of regulation, they still need to sit down in a room and work out what needs to be done. That process starts now," said Matthew Wholey, founder of Washington-based policy research firm PolicyPartner.On Thursday, Trump reiterated in remarks delivered to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, his ambition to make the U.S. the world's crypto capital.Some of the Trump administration's other early moves point to a light-touch posture on digital assets. Paul Atkins, his pick to lead the SEC, advocated for the crypto industry as a consultant. Earlier this week, acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda created a task force to develop a new crypto regulatory framework. It will be led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, one of the industry's most outspoken defenders.Among other issues, the order calls for the working group to study rules to put around stablecoins, a kind of crypto typically pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by reserves. The House of Representatives last year passed a bill establishing rules for stablecoins with wide bipartisan support, though the bill never moved forward in the Senate. Any legislation to regulate crypto would likely require Democratic support.The order also stopped short of creating a Bitcoin strategic reserve, as called for by industry proponents including lawmakers like Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) and executives such as Coinbase Global CEO Brian Armstrong. Rather, the order asks the working group to study the issue, including the potential that the federal government not sell the cryptocurrencies it seizes through law-enforcement actions. Trump had promised to take such a move on the campaign trail."The digital asset ecosystem should be heartened by the course reversal, but realistic about the limitations on the lengthy road ahead," said Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at BTIG.Write to Joe Light at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.