The crypto industry is waiting for President Donald Trump to issue an executive order that will steer the federal government toward a new, more welcoming era for digital assets oversight. That’ll be good for Trump’s own business, and that’s one of the reasons Democrats in the House of Representatives are already shouting about ethical lapses in the administration.
A Trump executive order on crypto stands to increase the value of at least two components of Trump’s family business: crypto venture World Liberty Financial and the eponymous token (TRUMP) launched right before he returned to the White House. Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, requested an investigation of the president’s business relationships in a letter sent to the committee’s Republican chairman one day into Trump’s new term.
“This committee must take immediate action to investigate the grave conflicts of interest
Donald Trump carries with him to the Office of the President,” he wrote in the request, which is unlikely to lead to formal scrutiny on the leader of the Republican Party, who demands loyalty from senior GOP officials. “The expanding scope of President Trump — and by extension The Trump Organization’s — financial entanglements and quid pro quo promises are troubling.”
Earlier, as Trump’s oath still echoed through 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 has created a way to circumvent national security and anti-corruption laws, allowing interested parties to anonymously transfer money to him and his inner circle,” Waters said in a January 20 statement. “Buyers could include large corporations, allied nations who are pressed to show their ‘respect’ for the president, and our adversaries, like Russia and China, which have much to gain from influencing a Trump presidency.”
Waters argued that the token doesn’t just compromise Trump, but she said it taints the wider 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 during this session.
Though Trump had promised fast action on cryptocurrency when he returned to the White House, the crypto industry isn’t yet among those benefiting from the extensive array of executive orders the president has already signed. So far, the most significant action from the overhauled U.S. government is 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 Spearheaded by Hester Peirce