At the Blockworks Digital Assets Summit in Manhattan, President Donald Trump made a statement via a pre-recorded video, the first American president to speak at the Encrypted Currency Conference. He reiterated his Government ' s commitment to making the United States a leading hub for encrypted and Bitcoin and criticized the approach of the previous Government. Trump promised to put an end to regulatory strikes like “Operation Choke Point 2.0” and announced policy shifts in support of digital assets. The term, proposed by Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures, refers to efforts to cut off the banking services of encrypted companies, similar to the 2013 action against high-risk industries.
Since taking office in January, Trump has signed several executive orders relating to digital assets. In January, he established the Digital Assets Working Group, which was followed by an order to establish strategic bitcoin reserves and digital asset reserves. His policy, which allowed the Government to hold instead of sell confiscated bitcoin, reversed the Biden-era liquidation. Trump believed that such an approach would prevent the United States from selling bitcoin at an undervalued price, which he believed had been done by Biden.
Trump’s support for encrypted currency has led to different reactions. Institutional investors welcomed their policies, but many Bitcoin community members remained sceptical. Justin Bechler, a bitcoan simplist, rejected the Government ' s encrypted currency initiative, particularly the recent White House encryption summit, as being biased towards lobbyists who promoted government-controlled digital assets. The Summit brought together industry leaders and policymakers to discuss regulatory issues. The Minister of Finance, Scott Bessent, stressed the importance of stabilizing currency surveillance, which would help the dollar to maintain its global dominance. Bo Hines, the White House top encryption adviser, suggested that a bill on the stabilization currency could be passed within two months.
Despite Trump ' s support for bitcoin, the market has reacted negatively to his strategic bitcoin reserve. After a brief breakthrough of $92,000, Bitcoin fell by 5.7 per cent in just one hour after the announcement and further fell in the following days, rising slightly to $87,200 after a drop of 7.3 per cent. Investors would have expected the Government to purchase bitcoin directly, but the Government chose to retain confiscated assets.
Congress is now considering expanding the Government ' s legislation on the possession of encrypted currency. Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the BITCOIN Bill, which allows the purchase of Bitcoin up to $80 billion. Congressman Byron Donalds proposed another bill that would allow federal agencies to increase the reserves of bitcoin, provided that these purchases remained “budget neutral”. Trump urged legislators to adopt legislation to establish clear and simple encrypted currency regulations, which it said would encourage institutional investment and technological growth.
It's not Trump's first promotion of bitcoin. At the 2024 bitcoin conference in Nashville, he called on supporters “never sell your bitcoin” and pledged that their Government would retain all bitcoin held by the Government. His speech at the Blockworks summit lasted three minutes and was announced the day before the event. While some view their participation as a sign of a growing mainstream acceptance of encrypted currencies, there are also concerns about the impact of government on digital assets.