Trump Targets US Leadership in Digital Assets

Trump’s Executive Order Aims to Strengthen US Leadership in Digital Financial Technology

On January 23, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.” The order supports the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy to secure America’s position as the world’s leader in the digital asset economy.

Key Objectives of the Executive Order

The executive order sets out high-level policy objectives, including:

• Protecting the lawful use of blockchain networks, participation in mining and validation, and self-custody of digital assets without unlawful censorship;
• Promoting dollar-backed stablecoins;
• Prohibiting central bank digital currencies;
• Ensuring fair and open access to banking services;
• Providing “regulatory clarity” for digital assets based on “well-defined jurisdictional regulatory boundaries.”

Establishment of the Working Group on Digital Asset Markets

The executive order establishes a Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, chaired by White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks. The group will include top officials from various agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Department of the Treasury. The group will:

• Identify regulations, guidance documents, and orders pertaining to the digital asset industry within 30 days;
• Submit recommendations regarding rescission, modification, or regulatory adoption of those items within 60 days;
• Submit a report to President Trump recommending regulatory and legislative proposals to establish a Federal framework for the issuance and operation of digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile.

Industry Reaction

William Quigley, a cryptocurrency and blockchain investor, said:

“It is exciting that the Trump Administration intends to make the United States the center of digital financial technology innovation by ensuring that regulatory frameworks are clear, especially in regard to stablecoins and the growth of digital financial technology in the United States remains unhindered by restrictive regulations or unnecessary government interference.”

Vivek Ramsar, the CEO of etherealize.io, concurred:

“We believe this [EO] was a monumental structural change to make the US the capital of crypto and AI.”

Rescission of Previous Orders

The executive order rescinds Executive Order 14067, issued by President Biden on March 9, 2022, which placed “the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC.” It also rescinds the Department of the Treasury’s “Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets,” issued on July 7, 2022.

Regulatory Clarity

Under the Biden administration, the crypto industry’s biggest complaint was the lack of regulatory clarity in the classification of digital assets between a security and a commodity. Recent cases have shown that determining whether a cryptocurrency is a security is a complex task that may not always have a clear answer.

Path Forward

Confidence is growing that digital asset-friendly regulation is on its way with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new task force that will develop a regulatory framework for crypto assets in collaboration with the CFTC. The task force is expected to focus on easing regulatory burdens and creating a crypto-friendly regulatory framework.

Lee A. Schneider, General Counsel, Ava Labs, said:

“The Executive Order sets the stage for a lot of activity in the blockchain and crypto world, including from regulators. We are excited to work on the proposals as they take shape.”

Current Regulatory Framework

Digital assets are currently regulated in the following areas in the US:

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