Last week, through executive order, President Trump took a significant step towards transforming the future of digital assets by establishing a crypto council led by investor and entrepreneur David Sacks. This executive order combined with the recent reversal of the SAB 121-poorly imagined policy that made it prohibitively difficult for banks to deteriorate crypto-assets that the new administration is serious in removing barriers to crypto recording.
This advice represents a golden opportunity to undo significant damage caused by the crypto industry during the bite administration. Instead of legislative hostility, Trump’s crypto council can help map a path to innovation, responsible supervision and, most importantly, the protection of customers and retail investors that helped him win the election.
While the involvement of major cryptic companies such as Coinbase, A16Z and Ripple are crucial, the council should not only be composed of industrial giants. For too long, retail investors, the backbone of the crypto revolution, have been ignored, exploited or directly attacked, not only by Sam Bankman-Freds of the World, but of the very regulatory agency designed to protect them. If the new administration is serious about promoting fair and effective cryptopolitics, it should include a voice for the daily American.
The need for retail representation
Over the past four years, Biden led the administration through officials such as Senator Elizabeth Warren and former SEC chairman Gary Gensler an unreasonable war against the crypto industry. Chokepoint 2.0 proved to be a coordinated effort to cut off cryptic companies from the banking system and limit access to important financial services. The paralyzed innovation in the United States and sent customers and retail investors offshore in the hands of Bankman-Fred. Gensler’s regulation-after-enforcement method left both entrepreneurs and investors navigating in an unpredictable and hostile legislative environment.
I witnessed firsthand how these ruthless policies injured retail investors. As a lawyer who worked Pro Bono, I represented 75,000 XRP holders in the Ripple case and submitted the thousands of declarations from retail investors, ultimately quoted by Judge Analisa Torres in her landmark decision. I also served as Amicus advice in other critical cases, including LBry and Coinbase, who rose to those who lack the resources to lobby congress or fight against government transcendent.
The newly established Crypto Council must not make the mistake of becoming an exclusive club of the industry elites. It should include advocates of retail investors, people who have been in the trenches and understand the real consequences of political decisions. It is one thing to speak in abstract terms about market structure and innovation. It is another to stand with individuals whose financial futures depend on fair and transparent rules.
A legislative plan for success
While the national conversation has recently focused on things like a strategic Bitcoin Reserve, this administration has a one-time-in-one generation to adopt meaningful crypto-emerging that promotes growth while ensuring investor protection. It has to act quickly because the midterm elections will be here before we know it.
More key priorities should be addressed:
1. StableCOin legislation. Create a framework that drives the demand for US Treasury while reducing friction and fees for cross -border payments, allowing stablecoin to serve as reliable economic tools for global trade and inclusion.
2. Reform of the market structure. Give Cleat Authority to CFTC to oversee digital assets while establishing final guidelines for when a token constitutes a security and thus controlled by SEC.
3. Centralized exchange of exchange. Require centralized exchanges to separate customer funds, which prevents any collection of business assets; Introduces legislation to ensure that customer funds are legally protected in bankruptcy proceedings that should never be treated as assets in the bankruptcy; mandate exchange to maintain 100% reserves; Prohibition rehypotation of customer funds, prevents hidden risks and contagiousness in the industry; and introduces boundaries and security measures to gearing trade to prevent retail investors from being wiped out at excessive risk.
5. Tax policy reform. Conversely, outdated policies that treat the use of crypto as currency as a taxable event. Small, everyday transactions should not trigger capital gains.
A call for inclusive governance
The Crypto Council will only be as effective as the voices it includes. If it becomes just another collection of industry leaders and venture capitalists, it will fail in its mission to create fair and inclusive politics.
Retail investors and those who use digital assets for payments, transfers, savings and investments deserve a seat at the table. They are not only stakeholders in this industry, but also voters who played a key role in choosing this administration for Embed. Their interests must be prioritized, not only the interests of powerful institutions.
As a person who has dedicated my career to fighting for everyday Americans, I urge David Sacks, Bo Hines and the administration to ensure that the Cryptor Council represents all voices, not only the highest and richest. If we get this right, we can establish the United States as a global leader in digital asset innovation while protecting the rights of the people who make this industry possible.
Clear, predictable regulation will not only help retail investors, but also drive innovation and economic growth in the United States for long, promising crypto projects have fled abroad due to regulatory uncertainty. A well -developed legal framework will bring back these innovators, ensuring that the United States remains at the forefront of financial technology.
This is our chance of building a framework that promotes confidence, justice and financial opportunities while embracing an America First Agenda. Let’s not waste it.
