Donald Trump Becomes 47th U.S. President
21 Jan, 2025 ● الأشخاص المشفرون
Former U.S. President Joe Biden concluded his term with a mixed legacy on cryptocurrency, marked by stringent regulatory actions and significant steps forward in institutional adoption.
On Jan. 20, pro-crypto President Donald Trump began his presidency, advocating to make America “the world’s crypto capital.” Biden, by contrast, had a more ambivalent approach to crypto policy.
During Biden’s administration, regulators pursued numerous lawsuits against crypto companies for alleged legal violations.
However, they also facilitated institutional adoption by approving regulated crypto products and custodial services.
This dual approach resulted in uneven progress for the industry: decentralized finance (DeFi) faced significant barriers in the U.S., while spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), tokenized U.S. Treasury bills, and dollar-backed stablecoins flourished.
In 2021, Biden appointed Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Gensler, who stepped down on Jan. 20 as Trump took office, led the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in bringing over 100 legal actions against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Uniswap, and Consensys.
He argued these companies failed to comply with registration requirements, depriving investors of essential protections. Critics, however, claim this approach stifled innovation and restricted the industry’s growth.
In 2024, about 30 crypto executives accused Biden’s administration of pressuring financial regulators to restrict banking access for crypto firms.
Galaxy Research later assessed Trump as more pro-crypto than Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran against Trump in 2024.
Despite tough enforcement, Biden’s term saw crucial advancements in institutional crypto adoption and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
The SEC approved numerous spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which quickly dominated the ETF landscape, with spot Bitcoin ETFs surpassing $100 billion in net assets by November.
BlackRock even recommended allocating up to 2% of portfolios to Bitcoin.
Regulated digital asset custodians like Coinbase Custody Trust, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, and Anchorage Digital Bank expanded during Biden's presidency, and dozens of other crypto products entered the market, including derivatives tied to Bitcoin ETFs and memecoins.
The progress extended beyond traditional financial products. In 2021, Franklin Templeton launched the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) on the Stellar blockchain, the first SEC-approved investment vehicle to utilize blockchain technology for recordkeeping.
By 2024, U.S. tokenized money funds collectively held over $3.5 billion in total value locked (TVL).
Meanwhile, stablecoins like USDC saw significant growth, with its TVL reaching approximately $45 billion under Biden.
The U.S. Treasury Department endorsed tokenization as a way to enhance economic efficiency and explored tokenizing U.S. Treasurys.
The CFTC also began considering cryptocurrencies as collateral for derivatives trading.
Sources: