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FRANCE – 01/20/2025: In this photo illustration, Trump Meme, Trump the Crypto President, is seen on the screen of a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Romain Doucelin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Cryptocurrency company bosses are optimistic about comprehensive federal rule changes for the industry set to be passed this year now that Bitcoin backer Donald Trump has returned to the White House.
The executive directors of CoinbaseBinance and Circle told CNBC that they now see a clearer path to securing some concrete rules on digital assets, unlike the previous US administration, which took aggressive action against several major crypto companies.
Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong said he sees cryptocurrencies entering the “dawn of a new day” with a Trump-led US administration.
“You have to remember: Over the last four years, we really felt like we were being attacked by this administration,” Armstrong told CNBC in a television interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual event in Davos, Switzerland.
“They tried to use the lack of clarity in the rules as a weapon to really push back even good actors,” Armstrong added. “To be fair, there were some bad actors too, but I think they even tried to go after the good actors, like us.”
Coinbase is the largest crypto trading platform in the US. The company is often touted as a regulated alternative to offshore exchanges, such as Binance.
Regulatory clarity to boost the sector
On Tuesday, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced the launch of a “crypto working group” aimed at “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for cryptoassets.”
The SEC panel will be tasked with developing a clear set of rules for the crypto sector, while also addressing issues related to coin registration, according to a statement from the agency.
Coinbase’s Armstrong said the current top priority for cryptocurrencies as an industry is working to pass legislation in the US that offers clarity.
“The industry is just ready for this new change,” he told CNBC. “They’re ready for clear rules. And that’s our big push.”
Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, highlighted token issuance, trading, and asset management as some of the key things he expects to see progress on in terms of cryptocurrency-specific legislation in the US.
Teng said he sees “much clearer regulation” in the United States this year, and that this would be supportive for bitcoin and other digital assets.
“If you look at past cycles, this year will be a year where we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng said in an informal discussion hosted by CNBC in Davos, Switzerland.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, surpassed the $100,000 milestone for the first time last year, as traders grew optimistic about the cryptocurrency industry’s prospects under the Trump administration.
On Wednesday, the token was trading at a price of around $104,000, according to data from CoinGecko.
US Bitcoin Strategic Reserve
Binance’s Teng also hopes the United States will establish a strategic reserve of bitcoins, something Trump suggested he would do during his campaign.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said he believes “central banks would be wise to hold some reserves in something like bitcoin,” adding that this could spark a return to commodity-backed money.
“If we look back, when we uncoupled from non-sovereign commodity money, we really saw around the world incredible abuses through fiat orders and that continues,” Allaire said. “The vast majority of the world’s governments are significantly in debt.”
“You need a kind of open heart surgery, shock therapy, in a place like Argentina to get out of this vicious cycle. And I respect that this is an important issue for the United States government now,” he added.
Trump has previously suggested that a national reserve of bitcoin in the United States could be backed by crypto assets seized from criminal operations, such as hackers and fraud rings.
Stablecoin laws expected
In addition to a pro-crypto president, the United States now also has senators and representatives who support the technology and want to implement regulations, something that is “absolutely appropriate,” Allaire emphasized.
Allaire noted that there are already “American champions” in the crypto space, such as Circle, Coinbase, and blockchain platform Solana. “I think under this new administration, we will most likely see rapid progress in crafting rules and policies to move this industry forward,” he said.
Circle CEO sees the US moving forward on legislation, particularly around so-called stablecoins (digital tokens designed to be pegged to real-world assets like the dollar), given there is already bipartisan support in Congress for such tokens . The circle is behind. USDCwhich is one of the largest stablecoins.
He Clarity law for payment of stablecoinsA bill seeking to establish a regulatory regime for licensing stablecoin issuers was moving through Congress before last year’s elections. It still has to pass a vote in the House.
