Revisiting Trump’s crypto promises after his election win

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There was a lot of election uncertainty a day ago. Now there isn’t. 

Donald Trump — a man who has promised to support the crypto industry — is set to return to the White House in January. Bitcoin hit a new record high as a result.

The now-president-elect’s pledges in recent months included firing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, supporting bitcoin mining in America and halting government bitcoin sales.

Beyond Trump, more members of Congress are expected to support the space than ever before. There were so far 257 pro-crypto House candidates elected (compared to 115 with an anti-crypto stance), according to nonprofit Stand With Crypto’s rankings. In the Senate, the crypto-friendly winners outpace those viewing the industry negatively, 16 to 12.

While Republicans gained control of the Senate, the House was still up for grabs as of midday Wednesday. 

“With the likely Republican sweep, the obstacles for fulfilling [Trump’s] promises will come down to three factors: order of importance in the grand scheme of politics, how sound the policy proposed is, and the personnel hired within the White House and relative agencies,” Blockchain Association government relations director Ron Hammond told me.  

FalconX’s David Lawant and Kaitlin Gately said in a Wednesday note that stablecoin legislation is “likely the lowest-hanging fruit.” They also highlighted the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act, which still needs to get through the Senate after the House passed it in May with bipartisan support. 

CoinShares research head James Butterfill labeled the prospect of the BITCOIN Act — which would establish a US strategic bitcoin reserve — a “key focus.”

Though most of the long-term problems facing the crypto industry will need a legislative solution, Trump can take some actions in the short term, Hammond explained.

“The most immediate: the debanking issue plaguing the industry and course-correcting the hostile approach the banking regulators have taken under the Biden Administration,” he argued. 

Speaking of regulators, many are keeping an eye on who Trump could select to replace Gensler as SEC chair — and when.

Trump seemed surprised by the Bitcoin 2024 conference crowd’s raucous applause when he said he’d fire Gary. And we know Trump loves big-crowd love. 

Hammond told me last month he expected Trump, if elected, to replace Gensler quickly (in January or February). Lawant and Gately pondered whether Trump could select either Hester Peirce or Mark Uyeda (both existing SEC commissioners) to lead the agency; we’ll simply have to wait and see.

One other action to watch out for, the FalconX pros pointed out, will be the crypto-focused advisory council Trump mentioned in July — “tasked with designing transparent regulatory guidance for the industry within the first 100 days of the new administration.”  

Professional Capital Management founder Anthony Pompliano told CNBC on Wednesday morning that while he doesn’t expect Trump to do everything he said he would while on the campaign trail, fulfilling some of the promises would suffice. 

Creating a strategic bitcoin reserve, for example, would be a “huge tailwind” that would spur “global game theory,” he explained. 

Former SEC senior counsel Ashley Ebersole told me in August that a presidential pro-crypto approach could be as simple as “White House silence” paired with stacking agencies with crypto-forward leaders.

I was reminded of that when Pompliano added: “If he’s going to protect [bitcoin] and not be abrasive, that’s a win.”

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