The crypto industry is waiting for President Donald Trump to issue an executive order that will push the federal government into a new, more welcoming era for handling digital assets. That would be good for Trump’s own business, and that’s one of the reasons Democrats in the House of Representatives are already screaming about the administration’s ethical lapses.
A Trump executive order on crypto stands to increase the value of at least two parts of Trump’s family business: crypto venture World Liberty Financial and the eponymous token (TRUMP) launched shortly before he returned to the White House. Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, request an investigation of the president’s business relations in a letter sent to the Republican chairman of the committee one day into Trump’s new term.
“This committee must take immediate action to investigate serious conflicts of interest
Donald Trump is bringing him to the Office of the President,” he wrote in the request, which is unlikely to lead to a formal investigation of the Republican Party leader, demanding loyalty from top GOP officials. “The expanding scope of President Trump — and by extension The Trump Organization — financial tangles and quid pro quo promises are troubling.”
Earlier, while Trump’s swearing-in was still ringing in the Capitol Rotunda, Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, expressed alarm about Trump’s coin.
“Through his meme coin, Trump created a way to circumvent national security and anti-corruption laws, allowing interested parties to anonymously transfer money to him and his inner circle,” said Waters in a statement on Jan. 20. “Buyers may include large corporations, allied countries that are pressured to show their ‘respect’ for the president, and our adversaries, such as Russia and China, that stand to gain in influencing a Trump presidency.”
Waters argued that the token not only compromised Trump, but he said it harmed the broader industry, “which has long fought 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 they failed to reach a bipartisan compromise. Waters will still be in a position to weigh in on crypto bills this session.
Although Trump promised swift action on cryptocurrency upon his return to the White House, the crypto industry is not yet among those benefiting from the wide range of executive orders the president has already signed. So far, the most important action from the overhauled US government has been the establishment of a crypto task force by the acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mark Uyeda.
Read more: SEC Forms New Crypto Task Force Led by Hester Peirce
