President-elect Donald Trump doubled down on his call for the U.S. to become an
During an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Trump confirmed that he intends to create something akin to the nation's strategic petroleum reserve for cryptocurrencies, adding that he sees innovation in the space as being a matter of
"We're going to do something great with crypto," he said. "Because we don't want China — and not just China, others are embracing it, and we want to be the head."
Trump first endorsed the idea of a strategic reserve of crypto assets over the summer, during a speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference. At the time, he suggested the government could build up the reserve over time by retaining assets seized from criminals rather than auctioning them off.
Others have made the argument that the U.S. should actively purchase and maintain a supply of bitcoin akin to the national reserve of gold. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., outlined such a proposal at the same conference, arguing that the government should seek to own 5% of the global supply of the cryptocurrency — then valued at $70 billion.
Since then, the trading price of bitcoin has nearly doubled, as the digital asset's value has soared from less than $70,000 per coin on Election Day to well over $100,000 per coin today.
Trump did not provide further details about his crypto ambitions during his interview with Cramer. But as a candidate and since the election he has made it clear that his administration will take a significantly different approach to digital asset policy than the federal government has under President Joe Biden.
Earlier this month, Trump tapped PayPal Co-founder David Sacks to be his
While a more relaxed — or at least more formalized — set of policies toward crypto engagement could be beneficial for banks looking to enter the space, greater legitimacy of the sector could cause
But some in the crypto space say it is essential that the crypto and traditional bank worlds come together — not only to spur innovation, but also to preserve free market ideals in the burgeoning world of digital finance.
Paul Neuner, CEO of the digital asset firm Telcoin, Inc., sees bank-issued stablecoins as a counterweight to state-issued central bank digital currencies. His firm is pursuing a banking license in Nebraska and ultimately hopes to gain access to the national payments system under the Trump administration.
"We're doing the free world model, which maintains that a bank is an intermediary between the citizens and the government, and I think that's very important. I think that's the model that'll win out in the majority of countries," Neuner said. "But, yeah, this is definitely a philosophical competition that's emerging, so we're trying to be the first to present that model in the U.S."
