(This Dec. 23 story has been corrected to fix the spelling of ‘Jonah Crane’ in paragraphs 15 and 18)
By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) – The cryptocurrency industry is pushing President-elect Donald Trump’s team to kick start his promised crypto policy overhaul when he takes office next month with executive orders that would help push tokens mainstream, according to industry officials.
Trump plans to issue a flurry of executive orders and directives on everything from immigration to energy on his first day in office on Jan. 20, Reuters reported this month.
On the campaign trail, Trump courted crypto cash with promises to be a “crypto president,” and the industry wants him to make good on that pledge with executive orders creating a bitcoin stockpile, ensuring the industry can access banking services, and creating a crypto council, the people said.
They are pushing for those executive orders within Trump’s first 100 days in office, and expect at least one could come on Jan. 20, said two other people with knowledge of the matter.
“Given the tenor of the campaign, it would be imperative for executive orders to really set out what the actual priorities will be on day one and provide some kind of roadmap,” said Rebecca Rettig, chief legal and policy officer at crypto company Polygon Labs.
Worried about crime and volatility, President Joe Biden’s regulators cracked down on crypto companies, but Trump has pledged to reverse course. His crypto policy team is already taking shape, with the announcement this month of crypto-friendly Securities and Exchange Commission chair Paul Atkins and White House crypto czar David Sacks.
“There has been an effort in the Washington bureaucratic swamp to stifle innovation… but President Trump will deliver on his promise to encourage American leadership in crypto,” Trump transition team spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit new records above $107,000 this month after Trump reiterated his plan, first unveiled in a speech in July, for a strategic bitcoin reserve. Bitcoin has since fallen back below $100,000.
Analysts are divided on whether Trump could use executive powers to create the reserve, potentially via the Treasury Department, or whether an act of Congress would be necessary.
One industry group, the Bitcoin Policy Institute, has gone as far as to draft a text of a potential executive order Trump could use to establish such a stockpile.
That draft would designate bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset and require the Treasury Secretary to spend $21 billion over a year to amass a national bitcoin stockpile, according to the draft seen by Reuters.
Zack Shapiro, the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s head of policy, said the United States should get ahead of geopolitical rivals in monetizing bitcoin, “rather than have the price run up without the United States having any reserves.” He declined to say if the group had shared the draft with Trump’s team.
Trump also said in July that he would not let banks “choke” crypto firms out of the traditional financial system, and some executives expect he will also try to address that issue with an executive order. Crypto companies have long complained that banks won’t work with them due to regulatory scrutiny, although regulators say banks are free to lend to crypto firms that follow the law.
While an executive order directing bank regulators to go easy on crypto would send a signal to agency officials and provide them with political cover, it’s unlikely to have legal force since federal bank regulators are independent, some executives warned.
“(They) are not going to change policy on the ground on day one,” said Jonah Crane, partner at financial firm Klaros Group. “But they will tell you what direction this administration wants to head.”
Trump has also said he’ll create a crypto industry council and his team is discussing how to structure and staff it. Previous administrations have stood up specialized councils via executive orders, executives noted.
More broadly, Trump could also try to address crypto complaints that existing regulations are not fit for the industry with an executive order articulating core principles for crypto regulation, similar to an order Trump issued in 2017 directing regulators to review banking rules.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you get something like an executive order early on that directs the agencies to re-examine their rules in this space,” Crane added.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Alistair Bell)
