Donald Trump Month One: Here’s How Crypto Is Changing in the US

• Donald Trump has signed an executive order to initiate research into a crypto national reserve and bans CBDCs.
• The SEC has dismissed cases against several crypto firms and stated that memecoins do not fall under their jurisdiction.
• Both the SEC and CFTC are yet to confirm their new Chairs.

It’s been over a month since Donald Trump took the U.S. Presidency, with a historical mandate that put the Republicans in control of the White House, the Senate and Congress, giving them ample space to enact Trump’s crypto agenda.

With a sweeping executive order and key appointments of pro-crypto figures to the tops of agencies, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. is experiencing significant pro-crypto shifts.

Executive Orders

During his first week back in office, Trump signed a comprehensive crypto executive order on Jan. 23, 2025.

Firstly, the order calls on the government to create a “crypto working group” that has a six-month deadline to identify, research and draft comprehensive crypto regulations, which includes stablecoins.

The order also bans U.S. agencies from developing or issuing U.S. dollar central bank digital currency (CBDC).

This allows bills such as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act to flourish.

It also required government agencies to begin researching and exploring the creation of a “national crypto stockpile.”

Key Appointments

Crypto Czar

To begin with, Trump appointed former PayPal exec and venture capitalist David Sacks as the U.S.’s first-ever AI and crypto czar.

Though this was announced back in December 2024, Sacks is now officially working with the U.S. government to make the U.S. the Web3 center of the world.

The SEC

Perhaps, the most significant of all is Paul Atkins’s nomination as Chairman of the SEC. However, his confirmation has yet to take place, leaving the agency and crypto—to some extent—in limbo.

Filling the gap is interim Chair Mark Uyeda, a man well-known for his pro-crypto stance. Since his appointment, several significant lawsuits against crypto have been dropped, including those involving Coinbase, Binance and Robinhood.

The Ripple (XRP) case is also expected to conclude, which may open up a clearer route for establishing crypto rules and regulations in the U.S.

Recently, the SEC officially stated that memecoins do not classify as securities and, therefore, do not fall under their jurisdiction.

Notably, the controversial SAB121 banking rule was also repealed on day one of Trump’s presidency.

“Crypto Mom” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has been tasked with heading up the first-ever Crypto Task Force, signaling yet another shift toward favorable crypto regulations.

Senate Banking Committee

Another notable appointment is that of Tim Scott to Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

This paved the way for Scott to establish the Senate’s first-ever crypto-dedicated subcommittee. Subsequently, Bitcoin advocate Cynthia Lummis was announced as the first Chairman of the subcommittee.

These individuals are expected to reverse the previous administration’s hawkish trajectory.

This follows the recent revelations that find the years-long anti-crypto conspiracy Operation Chokepoint 2.0 appears to be more fact than fiction.

CFTC

Similarly to the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has an interim acting Chair, Caroline. D Pham, to replace the outgoing Rostin Behnam.

President Trump’s top pick is Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto head of policy, Brian Quintenz, who is currently awaiting his confirmation.

A U.S. Bitcoin Reserve?

At present, one of the outstanding campaign trail pledges that Donald Trump made to crypto was the creation of a national Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.

If a bill, as proposed by Lummis, passed, the U.S. could hoover up 1 million BTC over the next five years. Bitcoin proponent and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) boss Michael Saylor has suggested the government take an even more aggressive approach.

Following the executive order that officially gets the ball rolling on at least researching the possibility of establishing a national crypto reserve.