President Donald Trump wants Congress to pass bills that spell out new digital asset regulation before legislators go on recess in August. “I hope lawmakers will send that legislation to my desk,” he said during a press conference.
That was the most significant policy update from Trump after he met with top crypto executives during the White House’s first crypto summit on Friday. For years, legislators have proposed bills in Congress to supply clear regulations for crypto, especially for stablecoins—a type of cryptocurrency whose value stays pegged to a fiat currency like the U.S. dollar. Under Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress, politicians are hopeful to finally turn these bills into law.
The crypto markets remained flat following Trump’s brief public remarks. Bitcoin dipped less than 1% to about $86,000 one hour after the press conference concluded.
“I promised to make America the Bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet, and we’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise,” Trump said.
The president also said he was going to end Operation Chokepoint 2.0, a term the crypto industry uses to describe efforts by the Biden’s administration to push banks to stop serving crypto executives and companies. “Some people really suffered. It was ridiculous what they were doing,” said Trump, though he did not specify how he would address so-called “debanking.”
Trump’s public remarks on crypto capped off a highly anticipated gathering of crypto’s most influential executives in the White House. Top Trump officials, including Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce, sat next to the president during the Friday press conference. A host of other crypto executives also sat nearby, including Brian Armstrong, the CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, as well as Michael Saylor, the founder and chairman of the Bitcoin treasury company Strategy.
The gathering came less than 24 hours after David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, announced that Trump had signed an executive order authorizing the creation of Bitcoin strategic reserve and a digital asset stockpile. In his Friday appearance, Trump said the Bitcoin reserve was akin to “a virtual Fort Knox for digital gold,” referencing the location where the U.S. government stores billions of dollars of bullion. Sacks said Thursday that the Bitcoin reserve will only include cryptocurrency from criminal and civil forfeitures. The U.S. may buy more Bitcoin—but only with “budget-neutral strategies.”
Trump’s executive order also authorized the federal government to create a stockpile of other cryptocurrencies acquired through civil and criminal forfeitures.
The president, once a crypto naysayer, still expressed some skepticism during Friday’s press conference. “Never sell your Bitcoin—that’s a little phrase that they have,” he said, in reference to crypto enthusiasts. “I don’t know if that’s right or not.”
Update, March 7, 2025: This article has been updated to reflect how Bitcoin’s price fared after Trump spoke.
