France – 01/20/2025: In this illustration, the Trump Cryptocurrency President meme is displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo illustration by Roman Dosselin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Cryptocurrency company bosses are optimistic about changes to sweeping federal rules for the industry passed this year after Donald Trump, a Bitcoin supporter, returned to the White House.
CEOs for CoinbaseBinance and Circle told CNBC that they now see a clearer path toward securing some concrete rules on digital assets — in contrast to the previous US administration, which took tough enforcement action against several major cryptocurrency companies.
Coinbase's Brian Armstrong said he sees cryptocurrencies entering the “dawn of a new day” with the Trump-led US administration.
“You have to remember: In the last four years, we really felt like we were under attack 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 get back, even against good actors,” Armstrong added. “There were some bad actors too, to be fair, but they really tried to go after the good ones, like us I guess.”
Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. The company often promotes itself as a regulated alternative to offshore exchanges, such as Binance.
Regulatory clarity to strengthen the sector
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced the launch on Tuesday “Encryption Working Group” It aims to “develop a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
The SEC panel will be tasked with developing a clear set of rules for the cryptocurrency sector, while addressing issues related to coin registration, according to a statement from the agency.
Coinbase's Armstrong said the current main priority for cryptocurrencies as an industry is working to pass legislation in the US to provide clarity.
“The industry is ready for this new change,” he told CNBC. “They are ready for clear rules. This is our big boost.”
Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, highlighted token issuance, trading and asset management as some of the key things he expects to see progress regarding cryptocurrency legislation in the US.
Teng said he sees “more visible regulation” happening in the US this year — and that that will be supportive Bitcoin And other digital assets.
“If you look at previous cycles, this year will be the year we see a new all-time high for the cryptocurrency industry,” Teng said in a discussion hosted by CNBC in Davos, Switzerland.
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time last year, as traders became optimistic about the prospects for the cryptocurrency industry under the Trump administration.
As of Wednesday, the token was trading at around $104,000, according to CoinGecko data.
US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
Binance's Teng also expects the US to create a strategic reserve of bitcoin, something Trump suggested he would do during his election campaign.
Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle, said he believes “it would be wise for central banks to hold some reserves in something like bitcoin,” adding that this could lead to a return to commodity-backed money.
“If we look back when we decoupled from non-sovereign commodity money, we actually saw across the world incredible abuses through fiats, and that continues,” Allaire said. “The vast majority of governments in the world are heavily in debt.”
He added: “It took open-heart surgery and shock therapy in a place like Argentina to break out of this vicious cycle. I respect that this is an important topic for the American government now.”
Trump had previously suggested that the US national bitcoin reserve could be backed by crypto assets seized from criminal operations, such as hackers and scam rings.
Stablecoin regulations are expected
Allaire stressed that alongside the pro-crypto president, the United States now also has senators and representatives who support the technology and want to put regulation into place — which is “absolutely appropriate.”
Allaire noted that there are already “American champions” in the cryptocurrency space such as Circle, Coinbase and the blockchain platform Solana. “I think under this new administration, we will likely see rapid progress in rulemaking and policymaking to strengthen this industry,” he said.
The Circle CEO sees the US moving forward with legislation especially regarding so-called stablecoins – digital tokens designed to be linked to real-world assets like the dollar – since there is already bipartisan support in Congress for such tokens. The circle is behind US dollarswhich is one of the largest stablecoins.
the Stablecoin Payment Clarity Lawa bill that seeks to create a regulatory system for licensing issuers of stablecoins, was making its way through Congress before last year's elections. It has not yet been voted on in the House of Representatives.
