It took Donald Trump three days back in office to drop a much-hyped executive order on crypto, tossing out Biden’s policy playbook. And it was kinda… meh?
Instead of sparking a market rally, Bitcoin slipped below $100K by the end of week one, dragging other major cryptocurrencies down with it.
The initial market reaction seemed hopeful, pricing in positives from Trump’s crypto-friendly rhetoric. But once the fine print landed, sentiment shifted.
Laws won’t change overnight, and the timeline for meaningful reform now looks longer than the crypto faithful had expected.
Plans for a Bitcoin reserve? Not happening — at least, not yet. This wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t the revolution the market hoped for.
Read more: Trump signs order to rewrite crypto rules, build reserves
A historic reset?
Still, Trump’s order is being hailed as a pivot. The so-called war on crypto is officially over.
For the first time, a US president is creating a working group to clarify whether cryptocurrencies are securities or commodities — a regulatory gray area that’s dragged the industry through years of legal battles.
Trump also banned the government from creating a central bank digital currency, while asking the working group to come up with rules for privately issued stablecoins.
CBDCs had become a lightning rod in the election, with Republicans slamming them as tools that increase government surveillance.
Perhaps the most notable provision protects access to banking services for crypto companies. An end to shadow bans, perhaps.
This marks the end of regulation by enforcement — what the industry called “Operation Choke Point 2.0.”
David Sacks, Trump’s crypto czar, told Fox News the order is a U-turn from Biden’s policies, which “pushed innovation offshore” and threatened America’s leadership in the sector.
“This EO is a sharp rebuke on that kind of governance,” says Joanna Wasick, a New York-based crypto lawyer.
Meet the letdowns
But the market wanted more. Trump’s order feels like more talk than action — at least so far.
The most glaring disappointment? No Bitcoin reserve. Instead, Trump wants to only “explore” the creation of a national crypto stockpile.
“We haven’t decided yet. We need to study that,” Sacks told Fox News.
Perhaps what might hurt the industry most is the part of the order that relates to the timeline: the working group has six months to draft crypto legislation.
Many had expected quicker action. “In 100 days, we will have regulations,” Trump had said in a now famous speech in Nashville from July 2024.
Read more: Decoding Trump’s move to make crypto a ‘national priority’
Legislative delays could push meaningful reforms well into 2026, especially with midterms on the horizon and the chance of shifting political dynamics in Congress.
“But it may not be a high enough priority for them,” says crypto policy expert and lawyer Michael Bacina.
The industry also hoped Trump would stack the working group with crypto-friendly experts. “People who love your industry, not hate” it, as he has himself put it in the past.
Instead, it’s dominated by 12 bureaucrats —Treasury, SEC and CFTC heads — leaving industry leaders out of the room.
Notably absent are the Federal Reserve and FDIC, two agencies accused of being hostile toward crypto. “Both tried to kill the industry,” says Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank. “Their exclusion isn’t an oversight.”
Read more: These are the altcoins riding Trump’s MAGA Wave
The takeaway
Trump’s executive order is “mostly about setting up the right processes and teams,” says Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director of Coin Center, a Washington, DC-based non-profit focusing on crypto policies.
There are no instant wins here and the crypto market remains in wait-and-see mode, with a lot riding on whether Congress actually prioritizes the legislation.
The US crypto landscape might be changing, but it’s doing so slowly — painfully so for an industry hungry for clarity and momentum. It’s a cautious step forward, not the moonshot Trump promised.
Edited by Ankush Chibber. If you have any tips, ideas or feedback, please get in touch: talk-to-us@moniify.com
