Trump sets up new crypto taskforce: Who is involved and what will they do?

The working group will be led by David Sacks, who is set to be the AI and crypto czar of the new Trump administration. It will also include the US treasury secretary, chairpersons of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other agency heads.

The newly created crypto working group will operate under the National Economic Council, according to a report by Forbes.

On the presidential campaign trail, Trump pledged to be a “crypto president” who promotes the adoption of digital assets. Trump’s White House bid was backed by the crypto industry after feeling that they had been under siege by regulations introduced by the previous Biden administration.

Trump’s executive order also prohibits a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) from being created, issued or promoted in the US. CBDCs are typically rolled out by the central bank or monetary authority of a country and are viewed as a challenger of existing cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

The executive order further protects the banking services used by crypto companies in the US. This action was likely ordered to address concern that lenders have been directed to cut off crypto companies from accessing banking services in the US.

“Today’s crypto executive order marks a sea change in U.S. digital asset policy. […] By taking a whole-of-government approach to crypto, the Administration is making a significant first step toward writing clear, consistent rules of the road,” Nathan McCauley, CEO of crypto company Anchorage Digital, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

In another sign of a more crypto-friendly Washington, the US SEC rolled back accounting guidelines that reportedly required publicly traded companies to report crypto assets held for customers as liabilities on their balance sheets.