The crypto industry is waiting for President Donald Trump to issue an executive order that will steer the federal government toward a new, more welcoming era of digital asset surveillance. That will be good for Trump’s own business, and it’s one of the reasons House Democrats are already clamoring for ethical lapses in the administration.
A Trump executive order on crypto stands to increase the value of at least two components of Trump’s family business: crypto venture World Liberty Financial and the eponymous token (TRUMP), which was launched just before he returned to the White House. Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, requested an investigation into the president’s business dealings in a letter sent to the committee’s Republican chairman a day into Trump’s new term.
“This committee must take immediate steps to investigate the serious conflicts of interest
Donald Trump carries with him to the office of the president,” he wrote in the request, which is unlikely to lead to formal investigation of the leader of the Republican Party, who demands the loyalty of senior GOP officials. “The expanded reach of President Trump — and in by extension, the Trump Organization’s financial entanglements and quid pro quo promises are troubling.”
Earlier, as Trump’s oath of office still reverberated through the Capitol Rotunda, Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, expressed alarm over Trump’s coin.
“Through his meme coin, Trump has created a way to circumvent national security and anti-corruption laws, allowing interested parties to anonymously transfer money to him and his inner circle,” Waters said in a Jan. 20 statement. “Buyers could include large corporations, allied nations pressured to show their ‘respect’ for the president, and our adversaries, like Russia and China, who have much to gain from influencing a Trump presidency.”
Waters argued that the token not only compromises Trump, but she said it hurts the broader industry “which has long struggled for legitimacy and a level playing field with other financial institutions.”
The California Democrat worked for months with former committee chairman Patrick McHenry on a stablecoin regulation bill, but failed to reach a bipartisan compromise. Waters will still be able to weigh in on crypto bills during this session.
Although Trump had promised swift action on cryptocurrency when he returned to the White House, the crypto industry is not yet among those benefiting from the extensive series of orders the president has already signed. So far, the most significant action by the beleaguered US government is the establishment of a crypto task force by the acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mark Uyeda.
Read more: SEC Forms New Crypto Task Force Led by Hester Peirce
