Donald Trump’s inauguration is just days away and the US president-elect has promised to overhaul crypto regulations, but the New York Digital Investment Group says that could be a way off.
NYDIG global head of research Greg Cipolaro said in a Jan. 10 research note that it “would caution on expecting immediate changes” to crypto policy, even with Trump taking office on Jan. 20.
Cipolaro said that while the inauguration is renewing hopes for the incoming administration to execute many of its campaign promises, “many can happen quickly, but some may take some time.”
“Key officials still need to be named, those that have been named need to go through the confirmation process, and then once confirmed they need to assemble their staff.”
Other important crypto legislation, such as rules governing stablecoins and a bill to clarify the securities and commodities regulator’s roles in policing crypto, “may take some time to pass,” as a reinvigorated conservative and free market legislature “may be less willing to compromise on points than when liberals controlled the Senate.”
“The execution of these initiatives may be a matter of priority, with items like geopolitical conflict, the budget and debt ceiling, global trade and tariffs, and immigration perhaps more pressing matters,” he said.
Trump’s picks for the Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and White House digital assets adviser appear positive for crypto, but his picks for key positions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation remain unannounced.
“Not all of Trump’s picks have been revealed yet, but from what we know so far for the agencies that matter regarding crypto and Bitcoin, we like what we see,” Cipolaro said.
Related: Circle contributes 1M USDC to Trump’s Inauguration Committee
One potential change could be the implementation of a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, which Cipolaro said “could come quickly via an Executive Order.”
He added a draft idea of how such an order could look has already been written by a Bitcoin advocacy group and circulated on social media. Cipolaro said, however, that an executive order “would be much less permanent, one that could be revoked by the next president.”
A possible US strategic Bitcoin reserve could come from the $18.3 billion worth of the cryptocurrency that’s been confiscated by the government, he said.
“That alleviates an overhang that the US would be a seller of Bitcoins,” Cipolaro added. “But it doesn’t create incremental demand.”
Magazine: Crypto to ‘Banana Singularity,’ Bybit halts India services, and more: Hodler’s Digest
