The executive order will also exclude the US central bank from future stablecoin regulation, according to industry insiders.
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US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end some banking challenges for Web3 companies and create clearer regulations for digital assets.
The executive order created a working group on digital asset markets tasked with finding ways to promote US leadership in the crypto industry, along with “evaluating the creation of a strategic national digital assets stockpile.”
In a notable development, the executive order excludes the US Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from cryptocurrency working groups.
This may put an end to previous crypto industry debanking efforts, according to Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank. Long wrote in a Jan. 23 X post:
“Trump’s crypto executive order excludes the Fed & FDIC from the digital asset working group. Both tried to kill the industry through debanking & especially targeted my company, Custodia Bank. Both belong on the outside.”
During the Biden administration, multiple cryptocurrency firms were denied access to banking services in what some insiders described as an orchestrated effort dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”
More than 30 technology and crypto founders were “secretly debanked” over the past four years, according to Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen.
The collapse of crypto-friendly banks in 2023 sparked the first allegations of Operation Chokepoint 2.0. Critics, including venture capitalist Nic Carter, described it as a government effort to pressure banks into cutting ties with cryptocurrency firms.
Related: FDIC chair, ‘architect of Operation Chokepoint 2.0’ Martin Gruenberg to resign Jan. 19
US central bank “frozen out of stablecoin policy,” says Long
Trump’s new executive order means that forthcoming US stablecoin legislation will fall outside the jurisdiction of the central bank, according to Long:
“Pretty incredible that the US central bank has been frozen out of stablecoin policy making. I believe this means Scott Bessent (as Treasury Secretary) will be firmly in charge of it.”
Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is a billionaire investor and hedge fund manager who was previously a partner at Soros Fund Management.
Related: TRUMP, DOGE, BONK ETF approvals ‘more likely’ under new SEC leadership
SAB 122: Smoother crypto custody for US banks
On Jan. 23, the Securities and Exchange Commission rescinded the controversial Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, or SAB 121, a rule that mandated financial firms holding crypto on behalf of customers must record them as liabilities on their balance sheets.
A new bulletin, SAB 122, said it “rescinds the interpretive guidance” of SAB 121 — a rule published in March 2022 that the crypto industry has long sought to have repealed.
SAB 122 will make it “smoother for US banks to custody digital assets,” wrote WazirX founder Nischal Shetty, in a Jan. 24 X post.
The cancellation of SAB 121 marks the first significant move by the SEC under President Donald Trump and acting Chair Mark Uyeda.
Bitcoin in U.S. Reserves: Could It Drive Prices to $500K? Source: YouTube
Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News