Washington, DC – President Trump hosted a groundbreaking event at the White House, bringing together cryptocurrency advocates for a summit on digital assets. This gathering marked a remarkable shift in the administration’s stance on crypto and its growing importance in the financial sector.
The summit followed the signing of an executive order by Trump, establishing a cryptocurrency strategic reserve that will hold a significant amount of bitcoin seized from legal proceedings. With an estimated 200,000 bitcoin valued at about $17 billion, the reserve aims to explore ways to procure additional bitcoin without impacting the budget.
During his address at the White House, Trump emphasized the importance of holding onto bitcoin, echoing the sentiment of many crypto investors. White House AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, likened the reserve to a “digital Fort Knox” and highlighted the missed opportunities of prematurely selling bitcoin.
Trump, who has personal interests in the crypto industry through his involvement in World Liberty Financial and his own memecoin, previously vowed to make the United States a prominent player in the global crypto market. He commended legislative efforts to establish regulatory frameworks around cryptocurrency and expressed hope for new legislation on his desk by the August recess.
Guests at the event included administration officials like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, head of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler, and the Winklevoss twins, founders of the Gemini crypto exchange. Trump has been critical of the Biden administration’s stricter approach to regulating cryptocurrency, opting to roll back investigations and lawsuits against crypto businesses and overturning rules requiring reporting to the IRS.
The summit signifies an initial step in developing a regulatory framework for the crypto industry, according to Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University. Harvey believes the previous combative regulatory environment towards crypto innovators needs reevaluation to balance the benefits of the technology against potential costs. The event aims to pave the way for innovation and economic growth within the financial sector.