Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has stabilised around the $102,000 (£82,660) mark, as cryptocurrency investors await clarity on whether the new Trump administration will follow through on the pro-crypto proposals floated during the 2024 US presidential election campaign.
Bitcoin was down a modest 1% on Thursday but remains up 2.6% for the week, rebounding from its post-inauguration dip to just above $99,500 late on Monday, according to Coingecko data.
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While the recovery has provided some relief, market sentiment remains cautious, with investors waiting to see whether Trump has overpromised on his proposed crypto policy reforms.
While Trump’s inauguration speech on 20 January made no mention of cryptocurrency, his recent regulatory appointments have provided a glimmer of hope for the digital asset sector. The naming of Mark Uyeda as interim chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Caroline Pham as acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been well-received by the crypto community.
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Mark Uyeda, a senior official at the SEC, has been a vocal critic of the agency’s previous crypto enforcement policies under former chair Gary Gensler. Uyeda has described the SEC’s approach as “poorly conceived” and has advocated for clearer regulatory guidelines for digital assets.
Analysts at QCP Capital said: “The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s new leadership has introduced a task force dedicated to developing a regulatory framework for crypto assets. This initiative promises to be a game-changer for the digital asset space.”
Similarly, Pham’s appointment at the CFTC has sparked optimism. Pham has championed digital asset innovation in the past, having led initiatives like the creation of a Digital Asset Markets subcommittee. In 2023, she proposed a “US regulatory sandbox” to encourage innovation in emerging technologies and advocated for a pilot program to support digital assets.
Investors are also focused on whether the president will issue executive orders to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
This would involve the US government acquiring and holding bitcoin as a strategic asset, similar to the way gold has traditionally been used as a reserve. While Trump’s campaign rhetoric was favorable toward crypto, his follow-through on such issues has yet to be tested.
Amid the ongoing regulatory developments, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has downplayed concerns that bitcoin could threaten the dominance of the US dollar. Speaking in an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Solomon said: “I do not think bitcoin is a threat to the US dollar.”
