New Delhi: Newly-elected United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to form an internal working group on cryptocurrency, while prohibiting the establishment of central bank digital currencies. This is among a series of first orders the US president has issued in the span of three days since taking over the Oval Office.
“Trump is fulfilling his promise to make the United States the crypto capital of the planet,” the White House said in a statement.
The move marks a sharp turn for Trump, who was a crypto critic during his previous term in the White House.
“The digital asset industry plays a crucial role in innovation and economic development in the United States, as well as our Nation’s international leadership,” the order reads.
Chaired by David Sacks, the artificial intelligence and crypto czar of Trump’s new administration, the working group would be tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework governing digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile.
The group will also include the US treasury secretary, homeland security secretary, chairpersons of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the heads of other relevant departments and agencies.
Trump’s change of heart regarding crypto attracted big contributions from the disgruntled crypto industry – investors, companies and executives – who reportedly accounted for nearly half of corporate donations in the 2024 presidential elections, with some contributing tens of millions of dollars to help Trump win a second term in office.
The new order effectively revokes the Biden administration’s digital assets executive order and the treasury department’s framework for international engagement on digital assets which, the White House said, “suppressed innovation and undermined U.S. economic liberty and global leadership in digital finance”.
A new meme-coin
Aside from an executive order for crypto, the US president, along with First Lady Melania Trump, also launched new memecoins called $Trump and $Melania, which has already received criticism from some sections.
At the launch, Trump pitched it to his supporters and said it was “to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!”
He still maintains that he “doesn’t know much” about cryptocurrency.
Notably, meme-coins are not like traditional cryptocurrencies. These digital coins can be created by anyone for free, using launchpad platforms like Pump.fun, hosted on blockchain networks like Solana or Ethereum. $Trump is hosted on the Solana blockchain.
One of the first and most popular meme-coins is the dogecoin – the one with an image of a Shiba Inu dog. It is frequently promoted by the world’s richest man and Trump’s new right hand – Elon Musk – who has also been accused of causing market manipulation with his actions.
