As President-elect Donald Trump begins a second term on Monday, he plans to issue an executive order making cryptocurrency a national priority, Bloomberg reports.
The order is meant to guide government agencies to work with the industry and possibly pause crypto-related litigation, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter. Trump also plans to create a crypto advisory council to advocate for the industry’s policies, per Bloomberg, and has suggested creating a national bitcoin stockpile.
This would mark a new era for crypto, an industry that collapsed two years ago after prices crashed. The period was marked by the fall of FTX, a leading exchange that went bankrupt that year. Its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of defrauding customers and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The industry resurged in 2024, boosted by Trump, a former skeptic who pledged to turn the U.S. into the crypto capital of the world. Eager for a clear governing framework and a friendlier watchdog, donors poured tens of millions of dollars into pro-crypto candidates’ campaigns.
Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency with a dog mascot and billionaire Elon Musk as a fan, surged in value after Trump won and announced a non-governmental cost-cutting group nicknamed DOGE.
Trump then nominated crypto ally Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that led a crackdown under the Biden administration. Bitcoin surged to $100,000 for the first time following the announcement. “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “YOU’RE WELCOME!!!”
Crypto companies and investing platforms like Coinbase, Robinhood, Kraken and Ondo Finance Inc. have made $1 million donations to his inauguration. Ripple plans to donate $5 million in the form of its own digital token, and the industry is holding an “Inaugural Crypto Ball” to support Trump, Bloomberg reports.
Trump’s business interests include World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform he and his sons launched last year with Steve Witkoff, a friend and inaugural committee co-chair who has been named special Middle East envoy. An entity affiliated with Trump, DT Marks DEFI LLC, is entitled to receive 75% of the business’ revenues, according to World Liberty Financial’s website.
In mid-November, the Financial Times reported that Trump Media — the parent company of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social — was in talks to buy Bakkt, a crypto trading firm previously led by Kelly Loeffler, another co-chair of his inauguration committee.
Trump’s 2024 financial disclosures show he owned as much as $5 million worth of the crypto token ethereum, a crypto token that has surged in value since the election, according to The New York Times.