From Regulation to Revolution: How a Change in the White House Reset the US Approach to Crypto

Yet GENIUS represents more than legal progress. Beyond its technical provisions, the law reflects Trump’s declared ambition to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” – a goal often framed by the president and his allies through the lens of national security and global economic competition. US-based exchanges, coin issuers and investors are set to gain as a result of this policy mission.

This aggressive, pro-digital asset stance contrasts sharply with the more cautious, enforcement-heavy approach under former president Joe Biden. The digital asset industry during Biden’s term was defined by crackdowns amid crypto turmoil, most notably the collapse of the exchange FTX in 2022. The founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for defrauding customers and investors.

In the wake of such scandals, Biden’s team prioritized oversight and rejected unfettered innovation.

Since then, however, crypto has gained powerful new allies. President Trump, members of his cabinet, and a growing coalition of Republicans and Democrats in Congress, now view digital assets as tools of monetary transformation. They would position the US to dominate the digital economy through the growth of dollar-backed stablecoins, exchanges and investment vehicles. 

“The GENIUS Act will protect consumers, enable responsible innovation, and safeguard the dominance of the US dollar,” said Senator Kristen Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, after the legislation passed through the House of Representatives last month. Normally a vocal opponent of President Trump, she joined her Republican colleagues to offer her full support to the legislation. The acronym stands for Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins.

A cabinet of contrasts

The policy divergence between Biden and Trump is both ideological and institutional. Under Biden, key regulators like the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gary Gensler and leaders within the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) were openly skeptical of crypto. 

Before 2023, Gensler regularly called for cryptocurrencies to be treated as securities, bringing them under SEC oversight. However, the 2023 SEC v Ripple ruling said that retail sales of XRP through exchanges were not within the SEC’s purview, though sales to institutional investors should be regulated as securities. Gensler was forced to rein in his position and the ruling led to increasing calls for Congress to provide regulatory clarity. 

At the same time, Biden’s Treasury Department advanced sweeping Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, extending them to peer-to-peer crypto transactions. While meant to curb illicit activity, these moves raised alarms in the industry over privacy and stifled innovation, since developers and investors were concerned about their liability in the face of a litigious administration.

Trump’s second term has flipped that script. His administration elevated pro-innovation figures and shifted crypto oversight to the CFTC, sidelining the SEC’s more aggressive posture. New legislation is working its way through Congress following the passage of the GENIUS Act, including a bill to ban central bank digital currencies, and the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act , which gives clear regulatory guardrails to federal agencies in a way that may benefit the industry’s growth.

He has galvanized the sector. Within a few months of the term, the White House had received a large number of domestic plaudits. “I'm grateful the new administration is so constructive on the space”, Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwiseinvest, which describes itself as the world’s largest crypto index fund manager, wrote on X in March.

Grateful crypto sector

Coinbase listed on Nasdaq in April 2024 and is the only pure-play crypto company to conduct an IPO (initial public offering of shares). Its CEO Brian Armstrong heralded the Trump administration’s arrival as the “dawn of a new crypto era” – which he helped create by donating to one of Trump’s election funds – and benefited from a prerecorded message from the president at a company event in June.

Coinbase earned more than $3.5 billion in revenues in the first half of 2025, up 20% on the previous year. It maintains that it is an international, largely remote-working company without a headquarters, although it was linked to a 150,000 square foot office leasing in San Francisco in May.

Unfortunately for shareholders, its stock tanked for six straight weeks after the 2024 IPO, in great contrast with shares in Circle, which climbed as much as 168% on the first day’s trading in New York on 5 June. Two months later, the stablecoin fintech pioneer was still up more than 130% compared with its opening price.

About 10 other US crypto-related companies are expected to hold an IPO (initial public offering) soon – moves that create opportunities for more financial companies, and indeed any member of the public, to acquire stakes in the companies.

American asset managers, including BlackRock, the world’s largest, and banks from Citigroup to JPMorgan and Bank of America and are also getting on the act by offering crypto investment products and banking services. Others, including Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, are set to become involved in the coming months.

Trading platforms and exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken, as well as credit card companies VISA and Mastercard, are swiping fees left right and centre from Americans buying, selling and, gradually more and more paying with crypto. 

“We have moved from a period where there’s big regulatory uncertainty and in many senses, some regulatory hostility towards the industry, to one where the largest economy of the world said ‘we want to embrace crypto,’”  Binance CEO Richard Teng told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal at CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore in March. ″[If] you ask anybody in the crypto industry, people prefer the current administration compared to the last one”. 

Binance also has a fluid view of where it is “based” and has not defined a headquarters. While it has faced significant legal controversies in the US in the past it advertises its services in Apple’s Appstore as “the leading crypto platform trusted by millions of customers in the US.”

It would seem that crypto business is booming under Trump, while the US market under the Biden administration was more limited. Although it’s not clear yet whether traditional finance benefits more from Trump’s enthusiasm or Biden’s restraint. Nor is it clear what long-term impact the new enthusiasm will have on the US and global economies.

Trump’s personal stake

Trump’s own involvement in crypto has added another layer of attention. He launched a meme coin called $TRUMP, accepted crypto donations through his campaign and his media company, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) recently announced plans in May to acquire $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Critics argue this presents a conflict of interest, with the president intervening heavily in markets in which his family are invested. Supporters counter that his engagement is a signal of commitment—aligning personal conviction with national strategy and helping the US leap ahead of more hesitant global players. They also insist he is only involved as a private individual not in his role as president, though the line between the two is blurred.

Implications for investors

Trump’s crypto-forward pivot has already helped lift the market. Since his 2024 election victory, prices of digital assets including cryptocurrencies have risen significantly, compared with their performance during the Biden administration. Bitcoin reached new all-time highs during the second and third quarters of 2025, peaking at nearly $123,000 on 14 July. XRP and BNB also attained record prices in the second half of July. Ether (ETH) has been a relative underperformer, although social media advocacy for a higher price by Eric Trump, an investor and son of the President, encouraged the coin to soar over 150% since this year’s market low in April. That compares with a 53% gain in the CMC100 crypto asset index. 

Adding to the momentum is Trump’s proposal for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a federal programme that would be managed by the Treasury Department and US Federal Reserve. Though still in development, the plan would function similarly to gold reserves, giving the government the ability to buy, hold, or deploy Bitcoin at will and during times of economic stress.

For investors, the message is clear: for the next three years, the Trump administration will do everything in its power to make digital assets a core component of US economic strategy. The administration has started with regulation to achieve this aim. 

“Ensuring that the U.S. is the best and most secure place in the world to invest and do business requires clear rules of the road,” said SEC Chair Paul Atkins in a statement following the passage of the GENIUS Act. “President Trump and the entire Administration are sending a powerful message that America is ready to embrace crypto asset innovation.”

A new era

The contrast between the Biden and Trump administrations marks a defining pivot for America’s crypto future. With the GENIUS Act as its cornerstone, the Trump administration has framed crypto not just as a sector to be managed, but as a strategic lever for US dominance in a new financial era. 

Certainly, the concepts for regulating the crypto sector were developed under Biden, but the sheer scale of the support under Trump is unparalleled. Members of the Trump administration, and his family, are constantly promoting digital assets on the fringe of government visits, private deal meetings and at industry conferences, from Las Vegas to Dubai and Hong Kong, and on social media channels.

Nonetheless, risks remain, especially as legislators and regulators are addressing something new and it often takes time to find the right balance. In this case, that balance is between providing protections for institutional and retail investors, and fostering innovation. Unlike the EU, which seeks to regulate digital assets through bank-like regulations that prioritize uniformity and consumer protection, the US under Trump is seeking growth and innovation.

This signals a potential new era: one where crypto is not only tolerated but embraced by the federal government, with all its associated risks. And it is proving to be fertile ground for the crypto industry.