Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has denounced the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also said that cryptocurrency exchanges are trying to invest outside of the US.
Carlos Giasso | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Now that President Trump has announced his strategic plan Bitcoin Reserve, crypto industry leaders can focus on what they want to hear from the new administration on Friday.
In just six weeks of his second White House term, Trump is holding his first crypto summit. This nods to the industry that played a major role in the November election victory. Executives were not at the heart of their efforts. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
After focusing on bringing Silicon Valley entrepreneurs into digital assets worldwide, Armstrong transformed into Crypto’s ambassador in Washington, DC last year, pouring millions into elections, building partnerships and ensuring the digital currency market is on the table.
“My goal to participate in this is to first and foremost, thank President Trump for helping the US become the world’s crypto capital,” Armstrong told CNBC before the meeting. “I think he’s been meeting that campaign promise so far, and we’ve seen a lot of work go forward here.”
Join Armstrong at Friday’s summit led by White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks strategy Chairman Michael Saylor, Robin Hood CEO Vlad Tenev and Chainlink’s Sergey Nazarov. They plan to discuss the mechanisms of digital asset regulation and strategic Bitcoin reserves.
Armstrong, who helped the Crypto sector raise $250 million for the 2024 election cycle and outpace Wall Street banks and the oil industry, has been instrumental in shaping the new administration’s approach to digital assets. The push for Crypto to lift opposition lawmakers and establish custody candidates was paid to the handsome, flipping key sheets and solidifying the sector as Washington’s leading political force.
The millions of dollars have been directly attracted attention from Trump’s campaign and the first fund. This is a sign of how much he was riding in his victory.
At Friday’s summit, Armstrong says his top priority is pushing for new laws.
“From our perspective, the most urgent next step in the US is to pass the law,” he said. He particularly pointed to ridiculous regulations and reforms in broader market structures.
The momentum of regulation clarity has already been changing with the favor of code. This week the Senate voted with strong bipartisan support to overturn two Biden-era regulations that the industry opposed. R-TX Senator Ted Cruz called it winning for more comprehensive legislation.
Crypto wishlist
For Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of ChainLink, the key issue is how the US uses blockchain technology to maintain control of global finance.
“Assets are what really matters to the financial system,” says Nazarov, who provides a blockchain-based platform for digital assets. “Does the US generate the largest collection of the best basic assets that have been subsequently wrapped, rewritten and repackaged by others? That’s how this new model defines global leadership in the financial system.”
Nazarov said the US must ensure that major financial markets (Treasury, investment funds, real estate) are tokenized. He sees it as a defining financial change over the next 50 years, as well as the transition from a paper-based market to an internet-based financial product.
Robinhood’s TENEV has emerged as one of the most vocal supporters of tokenization, claiming that blockchain technology can democratize the private market and break barriers to investment in the world’s most valuable companies. In an operation by the Washington Post, he noted that companies like Openai, SpaceX and Stripe are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but remain inaccessible to everyday investors, and profits are concentrated in small groups of insiders.
“Crypto technology allows you to unlock new ways to trade and invest in all your assets, from digital to real-world,” he told CNBC before the event. “Tokenization transforms investments, but it requires clarity of regulations to make it happen.”
Under current SEC rules, only certified investors, those with more than $1 million in net worth or $200,000 in annual income can participate in the private market. TENEV says that reforming these outdated rules and creating a security token registration framework will level out the arena for retail investors and provide access to high growth opportunities that have been booked for long-standing for venture capitalists.
After the first public offer in New York City on July 29, 2021, Robinhood CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev and co-founder Baiju Bhatt will pos for Robinhood Signage on Wall Street.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Before Thursday’s executive order, the big debate in the industry was what strategic reserve Trump would propose. The announcement concludes speculation on whether the reserve will contain multiple cryptocurrencies. The first post on the truth about Trump is Social Named 5 Tokens – Bitcoin, ether, XRPSolana Sol Token and Cardano Ada Coins – The spare will be limited to Bitcoin due to the final order.
Sol, ether and Bitcoin all fell around 5% late Thursday, while Ada fell nearly 12%.
The order shows that the US government is the first to formally recognize Bitcoin as a strategic asset. This reserve will only be funded through Bitcoin seized in criminal and civil forfeiture cases and ensure that taxpayers are not incurred financial burdens.
Non-Bitcoin assets are placed in separate digital asset stockpiles managed by the Ministry of Finance.
Nick Carter of Castle Island Ventures said the decision strengthened Bitcoin’s global asset status “somewhere in the gold territory.”
Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley also appeared at Friday’s summit, calling it “a big moment for both crypto and American leadership on the global stage.”
“The White House is approaching the future to strengthen America’s economic competitiveness by holding Bitcoin and other digital assets for the long term. Not just for the next decade, but for the next generation,” says McAuley.
Bitcoin Audit
For David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc. and one of the leading figures believed to have influenced Trump’s Bitcoin embrace, the priority is to understand the size of Bitcoin ownership in the country.
“The first is to see how much Bitcoin holds, and what the industry can do to help the government secure it,” he said.
The Treasury is required to conduct a full audit of government holdings, estimated at 200,000 Bitcoins. Sacks confirmed that the government would not sell Bitcoin from the reserves and placed it as a permanent and valuable repository.
Bailey, who persuaded Trump on the largest Bitcoin conference held in Nashville in July, is pushing for Bitcoin-backed financial debt, claiming that integrating Bitcoin into the US debt system could strengthen the country’s balance sheet and attract more buyers.
“When you mix Bitcoin reserves with US bonds, you can create significant demand by exposing investors to Bitcoin performance,” he said.
Armstrong told CNBC that Coinbase would “absolutely” step up to government crypto managers in the context of the National Reserve, adding that the company is already working in various parts of the government and crypto custody and transactions.
“We’re always happy to continue doing that,” Armstrong said.
Fintech investor Ryan Gilbert said the preparation will send a strong message to the institution that Bitcoin is here to stay.
“We’re also seeing this as a mirror image of many companies that have started investing in Bitcoin after seeing the Treasury Department,” he said. “I think this will create a whole new wave of trust in assets, both from the corporations and the US government.”
Saylor’s company has accumulated about $43 billion in Bitcoin, accounting for almost all of its market capitalization.
“This executive order is well thought out and auspicious for the US, the crypto industry and Bitcoin,” Saylor told CNBC.
The move faces pressure from Democrats. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, sent a letter to the bag before the meeting, raising concerns about profit disputes and questioning whether Sack had prior knowledge of Trump’s true social post, which first floated multicoin strategic preparations.
Warren has called on Sack to disclose financial holdings of Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and other assets found in the reserve, noting that his company, Craft Venture, has invested heavily in these tokens as of January 1st.
Sacks said this week on X that it sold “all cryptocurrency and crypto-centric funds” before joining the administration.
After the summit, many of the participants will reorganize with invited members of the administration at an off-the-record event hosted by Coinbase. Armstrong is preparing to play the long game.
“The code fight here is more urgent than ever,” Armstrong said. “If the US is leading in this front, I think the rest of the G20 can be quite inspirational in it.
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