Trump's Major Move: Establishing a Presidential Digital Asset Working Group to Assess the Possibility of Bitcoin as a National Reserve
Powered by ChatGPTAfter $Trump took office, he took action on cryptocurrencies and signed a presidential executive order aimed at promoting the development of the cryptocurrency industry. Additionally, there was good news from Congress for the crypto community: a congressman who first proposed the establishment of a Bitcoin strategic reserve in the U.S. was "promoted."
On Thursday, January 23, Eastern Time, the White House announced that President $Trump signed an executive order titled "Strengthening America's Leadership in Digital Financial Technology." The order mandates the establishment of a Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets within the National Economic Council, which advises the president.
The aforementioned working group will be led by David Sacks, the White House's first AI and cryptocurrency special advisor, who has been dubbed the "AI and cryptocurrency czar" by Trump. Members of the working group will also include the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Attorney General, Secretary of Commerce, the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as heads or designated personnel from relevant government departments and regulatory bodies.
The executive order also explicitly mentions that the $Trump administration is considering whether to make Bitcoin a national reserve for the United States. The order states that the working group will submit a report to $Trump within 180 days of the executive order's issuance, offering regulatory and legislative recommendations. The report should focus on: managing a federal regulatory framework for the issuance and operation of U.S. digital assets, including stablecoins, and considering provisions for market structure, oversight, consumer protection, and risk management.
The working group "should assess the feasibility of establishing and maintaining a national digital asset reserve, and propose criteria for such a reserve, which may comprise cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the federal government through enforcement actions."
The executive order also explicitly prohibits Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The order states:
"Except as required by law, all federal agencies are hereby prohibited from taking any actions to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs within or outside the United States."
The order requires that any government agency currently planning or undertaking initiatives related to the establishment of CBDCs in the U.S. should immediately terminate such plans and may not take further action to formulate or implement such initiatives.
Sacks stated that the new working group under $Trump's leadership will "make the U.S. the world capital of cryptocurrency," and actions in AI will ensure that the U.S. "dominates the AI field and leads the world." $Trump remarked that these actions "will earn a lot of money for the U.S."
U.S. Senate Banking Committee Establishes New Digital Asset Committee Focused on Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Legislation
Earlier on Thursday, Tim Scott, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, appointed Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis as the chair of the newly established subcommittee on digital assets. Lummis subsequently issued a statement announcing that this new committee dedicated to digital assets will focus on two areas:
Promoting responsible innovation and protecting consumers through bipartisan digital asset legislation, including legislation on market structure, stablecoins, and strategic Bitcoin reserves;
Ensuring rigorous oversight of federal financial regulatory agencies to ensure that these agencies comply with the law, including preventing the occurrence of Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is reportedly an action taken in collaboration by U.S. federal agencies aimed at excluding cryptocurrency companies from the traditional banking system, and no formal documents confirming its existence have been released to date.
Last July, $Trump promised at the Bitcoin 2024 conference to designate Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for the United States. Lummis, as $Trump's ally in the Senate, first proposed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act that month, which called for the sale of a portion of the Federal Reserve's gold reserves to purchase 1 million Bitcoins to establish the "strategic Bitcoin reserve" proposed by $Trump, without increasing the government deficit. Based on then-current prices, this would cost approximately 90 billion dollars.
In Thursday's statement, Lummis again mentioned legislation related to the Bitcoin strategic reserve. She stated:
"Digital assets represent the future, and if the U.S. wishes to maintain its leadership in global financial innovation, Congress must urgently pass bipartisan legislation to establish a comprehensive legal framework for digital assets and strengthen the dollar through a strategic Bitcoin reserve. ... I look forward to submitting bipartisan legislation to President $Trump this year to ensure our financial future."
The news of Lummis's appointment quickly ignited the cryptocurrency market. On Thursday, the trading price of Bitcoin ($BTC) against the U.S. dollar surged.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the spot trading price of Bitcoin against the U.S. dollar initially fell below 101.30 thousand dollars, refreshing the daily low during European stock trading, but accelerated rebounding after the U.S. stock market opened, rising above 106.80 thousand dollars, refreshing the daily high towards the end of the morning session, an increase of over 5,000 dollars and over 5% from the daily low, approaching the intraday record high of over 109 thousand dollars set on Monday. However, the U.S. stock market reversed and fell back, dropping below 103 thousand dollars after market close, with a decline of over 1% in the last 24 hours.