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During his first 12 hours in office, the 47th president issued 46 presidential actions.
Some were expected: Donald Trump designated acting chairs of the CFTC (Caroline Pham) and SEC (Mark Uyeda). Others were promised, like the executive orders mandating a federal hiring freeze and declaring a national energy emergency.
Some were symbolic: ordering the Gulf of Mexico to become the Gulf of America, and renaming Alaskan peak Denali to Mount McKinley.
Trump got to work on his immigration crackdown, issuing two executive orders: “guaranteeing the states protection against invasion” and “protecting the American people against invasion.”
There were also actions aimed at accomplishing Trump’s “anti-woke” agenda, including executive orders abolishing DEI programs and requiring agencies to “end the federal funding of gender ideology.”
Then there are the actions Trump did not make. None of his “day 1” moves had to do with the cryptocurrency industry.
To be fair, by my count, Trump only made two explicit “day 1” promises on crypto: fire Gary Gensler (which became moot when Gary resigned) and commute the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
That latter promise did not happen.
Insiders say the pardon is imminent, though Trump himself has not commented on his plans. Trump has never publicly said why he didn’t pardon or commute Ulbricht during his first term in office.
Trump wooed the crypto industry for months on the campaign trail. His first appearance post-assasination attempt was at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville. He hosted Messari founder Ryan Selkis at Mar-a-Lago. He even launched his own DeFi project.
Industry heavyweights paid up, and these first few weeks of Trump 2.0 were supposed to be their victory lap. And it still can be. But it’s also clear that Trump’s relationship to the crypto industry has gotten more complicated in the past few days.
Trump never actually said he’d establish a strategic bitcoin reserve or overturn SAB 121 on his first day. But he also never said he’d launch $TRUMP and $MELANIA right before taking the oath of office.
To a large portion of the industry, it’s fine if Trump waits weeks or even months before he executes promised crypto policies (whether some of these things can even be accomplished via executive order is legally questionable anyway).
But the president of the United States engaging in this speculative, highly-manipulated corner of the crypto space is decidedly not fine.
Even Selkis, who arguably lost control of his company over his vocal support for Trump, said the $MELANIA launch was a mistake.
The memecoins have seemingly put the industry on edge. When $TRUMP launched at 9 pm last Friday night, the mood at the Crypto Ball shifted. It’s no secret that Trump has a chaotic approach to decision-making, but it’s almost as if some in the crypto world are realizing it — and seeing the ramifications — for the first time.
Lobbyists and donors were unsettled. Almost no one wanted to comment on it, at least on the record — I’d imagine in fear of alienating the administration or Trump himself. Blockchain Association director of government relations Ron Hammond even joked that he’s “staying out of it.”
We’re just barely over 24 hours into Trump’s second term. For those of us watching from the sidelines, it’s shaping up to be a really entertaining four years.
