Crypto industry praises Trump, calls for market clarity

by Ben Simon

The start of President Donald Trump's term earned rave reviews at the world's leading crypto conference Wednesday, but top industry lawyers said digital platforms wanted regulatory clarity while the Republicans control Congress.

"Across the board, it's been a very encouraging three months," said Lewis Cohen, a lawyer specializing in digital assets with the New York firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

Cohen was speaking at Consensus, the world's longest-running crypto conference, hosted this year in Canada's largest city, Toronto.

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Trump's son Eric, who is promoting his own crypto business, is expected to address the conference on Thursday amid increasing questions about potential conflict of interest with his father in the White House.

Eric Trump is deeply involved in the crypto industry through direct business ventures, notably as a co-founder and executive at American Bitcoin, as well as through family-backed projects like World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP meme coin.

The digital currency saw a spike in value when it announced that its top holders would be invited to a dinner with the president, set to take place on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club near Washington.

US crypto investors were major supporters of Trump's presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars toward his victory in hopes of ending the deep skepticism of the previous Democratic administration toward digital currencies.

Conference participants did not conceal their lingering contempt for Joe Biden's presidency.

Annemarie Tierney of Liquid Advisors, a regulatory expert who previously worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that Trump's return to the White House offered "a chance to reset the relationship" between the industry and Washington.

Biden's administration had implemented restrictions on banks holding cryptocurrencies and allowed former SEC chairman Gary Gensler to pursue aggressive enforcement.

Trump's pro-crypto SEC chair Paul Atkins has dropped cases against major platforms like Coinbase and Kraken initiated under Biden. "This is one of the most important things the SEC has done...I never thought I would see this," Tierney said.

- 'Rules of the road' -

Cryptocurrency critics warn that digital assets function primarily as speculative investments with questionable real-world utility that could cause massive damage if the market crashes.

But believers see digital assets as a financial revolution that reduces dependence on centralized authorities and an alternative to traditional banking systems.

Some say crypto's success at the grassroots level would be stamped out by regulation that would give massive financial institutions free rein to dominate the sector.

But for Connor Spelliscy, who heads the non-profit Decentralization Research Center, crypto platforms would benefit from fast regulatory action.

"It's so important that we establish some rules of the road for the industry before potentially the House switches," he said, referencing a widely-held view that Democrats, currently the minority party in the House and Senate, are more hostile toward crypto.

Congress is considering two cryptocurrency bills.

The so-called stablecoin bill, which aims to regulate digital coins whose value is tied to the dollar, is seen as less contentious.

But it's being held up by Democrats who are furious over Trump's increasing holdings in the sector while in office.

The second, thornier bill, aims to create a regulatory framework for the entire digital assets market -- like a regulated stock market for cryptocurrencies.

"This administration needs to put these rules in writing," Tierney said. "We need to build a framework that's regulatorily solid."