Cryptocurrency reaps quick returns from Trump investment after funding campaign | Real Time Headlines

Cryptocurrency executives, companies and investors are reaping early rewards invest exist Donald Trump.

After Trump invested tens of millions of dollars in his 2024 presidential campaign, the crypto industry was richly rewarded in his first week in the White House.

Benchmark’s Bill Gurley for early bets exist Ubertold CNBC “Closing Bell” on Friday. Gurley said that while tech’s new influence in Washington could be detrimental to some parts of the startup world, “it’s clearly good for cryptocurrencies.”

The industry’s support for Trump builds on the Republican leader’s pledge to end government crackdowns on cryptocurrencies and implement regulations that benefit those who want to develop new payment technologies, while easing restrictions on cryptocurrency investments. limit.

Industry heavyweights like Coin library CEO Brian Armstrong and Binance CEO Richard Teng hailed the beginning of a new era.

“You have to remember that over the last four years we have really felt like we were under attack by this administration,” Armstrong told CNBC at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Armstrong criticized the Biden administration for trying to “weaponize the lack of clarity” on the rules and even punish companies for trying to help.

“To be fair, there were some bad actors,” Armstrong said. “But I think they’re even really trying to go after good actors like us.” Coinbase is One of the major corporate donors in the 2024 election cycle.

Bitcoin It hit an all-time high of around $109,000 on Monday and hovered near $105,000 at the end of the week. The index has risen more than 50% since Trump won the election in early November.

The 48-hour stretches Gurley mentioned include executive order Trump signed on Thursday to boost the adoption of digital assets in the United States

Trump called on members of the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to form a working group to assess the potential of government-seized cryptocurrency stocks.

The order outlines other key priorities, such as protecting Bitcoin miners and software developers from what the president calls “persecution” and promoting U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins while prohibiting the Fed from using digital dollars.

Trump venture capitalist David Sachs percussive The White House artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar signed the order alongside the president in the Oval Office.

Late Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a landmark announcement, withdraw An accounting rule that forces banks to treat Bitcoin and other tokens as liabilities on their balance sheets has made it harder for institutions to adopt cryptocurrencies.

The rules, called SAB 121, will be introduced in 2022 and impose strict capital requirements on digital assets. It also increases the financial and regulatory risks of providing cryptocurrency custody services and increases operating costs for financial institutions.

Last year, the effort to overturn SAB 121 gained bipartisan support in Congress. but then-President Biden The proposed legislation was vetoed, leaving the rule in place to further prevent banks from adopting digital assets outside of derivatives trading and offering exchange-traded funds to wealth management clients.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce celebrated the move, saying she Tuesday Appointed to lead a new “Cryptocurrency Working Group” within the agency.

“Bye, bye SAB 121! It’s not fun,” she wrote in a letter. Post on X.

Before the SEC announcement, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Tell CNBC said in Davos that from a regulatory perspective the bank cannot own Bitcoin and it would revisit the issue if the rules change. CEO of Morgan Stanley and Bank of America It also stated that President Trump’s pro-cryptocurrency tone may reshape their plans and may lead to the expansion of digital products.

A few days ago, Gary Gensler resigned as SEC chairman. Gensler emerged as an opponent of the crypto industry, arguing that the rule was necessary to protect investors if crypto companies went bankrupt. Trump’s pick to replace Gensler is former SEC commissioner Paul AtkinsCurrently CEO of Patomak Global Partners.

TuesdayOn the second day after taking office, Trump issued a full pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht, 40, has been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole since being convicted in federal court in 2015. The seven charges include Distributing drugs and conspiring to commit computer hacking.

Silk Road operated from 2011 to 2013 as a darknet market where users bought and sold a variety of contraband, including illegal narcotics such as heroin. platform Generated over $200 million in salesThe incident was linked to the deaths of at least six people, according to federal prosecutors.

In its heyday, the Silk Road served as a global drug bazaar, with trade mainly in Bitcoinmaking it one of the first cryptocurrencies to be adopted on a large scale. Prosecutors later argued that the anonymity provided by Bitcoin helped allow Silk Road vendors to conceal their identities.

Ulbricht has become a cult hero within the cryptocurrency community and ““Free Ross” The movement has resonated with conservative media figures and politicians.

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the liberal movement that so strongly supports me, I am pleased to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon for her son Ross,” Trump wrote In a post published on Truth Social on Tuesday.

Billionaire, Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao commented A clapping emoji was added to the X after the pardon was announced. Zhao is sentenced He was sentenced to four months in prison in April after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering at his cryptocurrency exchange.

Most notably, the president has been frolicking in a market notorious for scams. Last weekend, when cryptocurrency leaders and members of the Trump family and inner circle gathered Encryption ball In Washington, the $Trump meme coin is taking off online.

Then there are the $MELANIA coins. The Trump family has collectively made billions of dollars thanks to their ownership of assets created out of thin air. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts fear this is a troubling sign of Trump’s true intentions and is damaging the credibility of an industry trying to prove its legitimacy.

Nick Carter of Castle Island Ventures wrote in an article: “Call me old-fashioned, but I think the president should focus on running the country, not issuing scam tokens.” postal on X.

this website for $TRUMP says 80% of the supply is held by the Trump Organization and its affiliates.

Lawmakers also had objections.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., raised questions about the first couple profiteering from their positions and possible “co-optation” scams.

“We are deeply concerned about President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s decision to launch two meme coins, $TRUMP and $MELANIA, allowing them to make extraordinary profits from his presidency,” the two said in a letter obtained by CNBC.com. “These tokens will not create new faster, cheaper, more secure ways to pay. These tokens will not help people borrow money more cheaply. They will not improve the financial system for consumers in any way.”

$TRUMP is currently trading below $30, down more than 50% from its peak shortly after launch. The $MELANIA token has plummeted over 80% from its highs and is currently trading below $2.50.

Meme tokens are subject to a multi-year vesting schedule, ensuring that most tokens are not liquidated all at once. Without selling any tokens, ex Coin library Executive and Cryptocurrency Analyst Conor Grogan estimate The Trump team still made $58 million in trading fees on the first day.

Skepticism isn’t limited to meme coins.

In Trump’s executive order on Thursday, the president stopped short of directing the United States to begin purchasing Bitcoin directly and holding it as a reserve.

Binance CEO Richard Teng preceded the order told CNBC in Davos He expects the United States to build a strategic reserve of Bitcoin. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said it was “prudent” for central banks to hold Bitcoin reserves.

Trump floated the idea on the campaign trail, suggesting that U.S. Bitcoin reserves could be backed by crypto assets seized from hacking and fraud rings, and the proposal is still under consideration.

But in Thursday’s 1,300-word executive order, Trump not only avoided calling for a Bitcoin reserve. The word Bitcoin is nowhere to be found.

— CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.