WASHINGTON, DC – Donald Trump was re-elected president a year ago this week, though some of the crypto industry’s lobbyists quietly say they feel like they’ve aged years in this tumultuous 12 months, which saw a series of highs and deep frustrations in the young sector’s pursuit of American policies.
President Trump stormed back into the White House with broad support from crypto voters and optimism from many of the most prominent US industry leaders that he would secure their place in the US financial system. In many ways, that faith in the politician has paid off.
He quickly issued orders demanding progress on friendly crypto policies and the establishment of a bitcoin reserve to save the government’s holdings as a long-term investment.
“Since day one, he has been issuing orders and telling agencies to pay attention to digital assets and how blockchain can increase transparency across government,” Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, said in a statement to CoinDesk.
In Congress, the industry went from pariah in 2022 (during its struggles with failed companies and fraud prosecutions) to a top priority in 2025, with significant support from a president who made steady demands from allied lawmakers. In a stunning example of swift, bipartisan legislation, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act became law, the first major US crypto policy effort to do so.
The Trump administration’s Treasury and banking agencies have already begun trying to figure out its implementation — a lengthy process as it winds its way through public comment periods and eventually through multiple rulemakings.
The GENIUS Act was intended as a companion to go along with the more important legislation that would set the rules of the road for US crypto markets in addition to stablecoin issuers. While this effort again passed in the House of Representatives this year, the Senate has yet to act.
While he continues to lead Congress, Trump has made some follow-up appointments to lead the U.S. financial regulators. At the top of the list for crypto advocates is Paul Atkins, who was confirmed to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins is a crypto supporter who made friendly new policies his top priority at the agency. He has recently promised specific regulatory proposals in the coming months.
Trump also installed Jonathan Gould, a former crypto lawyer, to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
“The past year has delivered what many thought impossible: a complete reversal of federal crypto policy that has transformed America from a jurisdiction defined by regulation-by-enforcement to one racing to lead the global digital economy,” said Kristin Smith, president of the Solana Policy Institute.
On the back of his administration’s crypto advances, Trump’s volatile leadership has potentially threatened other parts of the agenda. The current, protracted shutdown of the federal government — the longest ever, breaking the record set during Trump’s first term — has contributed to a derailment of Senate legislative work, including the main US policy target for crypto: market structure.
Polls have consistently shown voters blame Trump and Republican lawmakers more for the shutdown than Democrats. The budget impasse is not only redirecting lawmakers’ energy toward settling this dispute, but it has also laid off federal workers meant to focus on helping write the legislation.
Even without shutting down government operations, the legislative talks were at an uncertain time, with some Republicans questioning the idea that the Senate version of the House Digital Asset Market Clarity Act was ready to move forward. Some crypto lobbyists have privately pushed their expectations as far as 2027 before Congress will finish that job, because next year’s midterm elections are expected to turn Capitol Hill into a political battleground where bipartisan action could become difficult.
Government shutdowns have also stalled the industry’s push for product approvals and public offerings to be deregistered from the SEC.
And despite Trump’s order to create crypto reserves at the federal level, this project has not progressed anywhere past the planning stage. Those working on it have suggested that congressional action may be needed to remove the final hurdle to establishing the funds. Like other regulatory efforts beyond market structure — such as overhauling the tax code for crypto activity — this one could be in the queue for a while.
Meanwhile, although the crypto industry has lined up a long list of allies among Democratic lawmakers, Trump has drawn sharp criticism from members of the opposition party for his personal stake in digital asset companies. There are few corners of the sector untouched by his and his family’s interests, and the potential conflicts of interest for the president came to a head when the largest holders of his memecoin were invited to a private evening event with him.
Many of the top investors in Trump’s coin were foreign nationals, and the administration declined to identify those who attended the dinner and rubbed elbows with the president.
Also, Trump’s success in appointing regulators, such as to the SEC, OCC and slowly transforming the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, has been somewhat offset by challenges, such as having to withdraw his first choice to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Most prominent industry leaders have cozyed up to Trump, and crypto events at the White House have seen CEOs and founders — such as the heads of Coinbase, Ripple, Tether, and Gemini — eagerly join the president’s celebrations. But while that relationship has strengthened, the president’s public popularity has declined. In this opening year of his second administration, Trump’s approval ratings have fallen precipitously to a low not touched by other recent presidents, with 58% disapproving of the job he’s doing — especially younger voters who had been relatively enthusiastic about giving him a return to the White House.
As this week saw a series of state elections seen as potential bellwethers for congressional midterms a year from now, voters’ feelings about Trump’s presidency were potentially visible. A year after re-electing Trump, they dramatically increased their support for Democratic candidates. If that holds for the 2026 midterms, Democrats could make gains in Congress and possibly regain a majority in the House of Representatives, ending the Republican stranglehold on the executive and legislative branches.
If it takes place on Trump’s watch, his crypto agenda may have to adjust to more overt bipartisan cooperation during his final two years in office. But Trump’s inaugural year has already produced more policy progress than the industry had ever achieved before, and advocates say it has significant results for American companies.
“We’ve seen digital asset companies reshore operations, expand their presence and increase headcount as a result of President Trump and a pro-crypto Congress,” said Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, which was a recent US commodity regulator in this administration.
