NEW YORK — A top White House crypto adviser says banks will play a big role in the growth of digital assets.
Robert "Bo" Hines, executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, said he has fielded many calls from traditional financial institutions since joining the newly created advisory group, and most have been supportive.
"It's not because they want to throw up roadblocks or hurdles, I think that they also see the writing on the wall and the way that this is moving," Hines said Tuesday at the Blockworks' Digital Asset Summit. "This is ushering in new and positive change that allows the United States to lead the charge globally in terms of these innovations and innovation sectors. You know, I think that they'll be tremendous participants."
Hines said bank engagement will not just be helpful for crypto expansion, it will be necessary.
"We can have these amazing pieces of legislation, but if we don't have institutional adoption, then they're really null and void," he said. "We need to lead the charge in terms of this institutional process, allowing these players to come in and find their roles in this space in a way that makes sense for their businesses."
Hines, 29, is a former Division I college football player and ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in his home state of North Carolina. President Donald Trump named him to the council — which is headed by so-called
During his on-stage appearance, Hines said even he has been surprised by the pace at which the new administration has been able to reform the legal landscape around digital assets, pointing to the withdrawal of the Securities and Exchange Commission's
"This is my first position in government, but I expected this kind of slow minutia that we were going to have to battle through," Hines said. "Under this president's leadership, he's encouraging the experts to take charge, take the reins and plow ahead, and that's what we've been able to do over the course of the last eight weeks."
Still, the administration is aware that many of these early actions could be readily undone by a subsequent president who views the digital asset sector less favorably, Hines said. Because of this, there is a strong emphasis on solidifying these gains through legislation, he said.
Hines said the
After that, Hines said the administration would turn its attention toward market structure legislation, which he said could be finalized before Congress is dismissed for its August recess.
"We feel that there's this very unique window in time to make these monumental changes," Hines said. "I think that we've tried to frame that way for folks on the Hill, folks in [financial and banking agencies] saying, 'Look, when we have the wind at our back, it's time to move,' and we plan on doing that."
Hines' comments confirmed the general sentiment expressed by speakers and attendees at that event, that Trump's return to the White House has helped legitimize digital assets.
"Deregulation has … given — not just us, but a lot of people [and] institutions — confidence that this is real, and that the opportunities here … are vast," said Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of ARK Investment Management, who addressed the audience virtually on Tuesday.
In particular, speakers said recent administrative actions and positions have bolstered confidence among large asset allocators, such as pension funds, and have resulted in them being incorporated into their investment plans.
"It's giving institutions the green light," Wood said.
But, despite the growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies by large money managers, many still insist on running their digital asset programs through traditional banks. Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, said his firm uses tri-party agreements with banks to provide custody services to institutional clients outside the U.S.
Binance was banned from operating in the U.S. in 2019, during the first Trump administration, based on a litany of regulatory and money-laundering concerns. The company's founder, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, was ultimately sentenced to four months in prison, a term he completed last year. A spinoff company, Binance.US has continued to operate on a limited, regulatorily compliant basis.
But Teng said the tonal shift toward crypto in the U.S. under Trump has led to a surge in interest and investment activity around the world, as traders and would-be investors anticipate the world's largest capital market being open for business.
"That general optimism has filtered into the global market," Teng said, adding that the company is working to "resolve" all its outstanding regulatory issues, both in the U.S. and elsewhere.
But amid all the excitement, there is also concern about a potential backlash. Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association and a former congressional staffer, said she is concerned that causes and individuals — namely business mogul turned White House advisor Elon Musk — championed by the administration could be permanently soured for large swaths of the country.
"There's a really strong anti-Elon sentiment among Democrats … and I'm worried that [because] Elon is associated with technology and innovation … this is going to drive the Democratic Party away from tech, away from innovation," Smith said.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a longtime proponent of the crypto industry, echoed these concerns, noting that certain actions by the president have undermined the legitimacy of the digital asset space.
"We have to show that this is not something that elected officials are going to use to profit off of, that it is transparent and it's a fundamental technology," Khanna said. "Because of FTX and the actual fraud there, you had a lot of suspicions in the American public and that, I think, led to some of the concerns that blockchain and crypto face. And I don't want that same kind of skepticism to emerge because of a
