The "Trump Effect" Returns: Will DeFi, AI, and Altcoins Benefit from Policy Tailwinds?
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
The "Trump Effect" Returns: Will DeFi, AI, and Altcoins Benefit from Policy Tailwinds?
Analyzing 8 sectors and 40 tokens: How will Trump's executive order on crypto and AI benefit the market?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: viee, Core Contributor at Biteye
Editor: viee, Core Contributor at Biteye
Yesterday (January 23, 2025), Trump signed a highly anticipated executive order at the White House, officially announcing that the United States will increase policy support in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital cryptocurrencies. This not only signals Trump's intention to position the U.S. as a global leader in the AI race but also sends a positive signal toward the cryptocurrency sector.
Compared to the regulatory approach under the Biden administration, Trump’s policies are bold and sweeping—potentially ushering in a long-awaited spring for projects previously overshadowed by strict regulation. From DeFi to AI, and even meme coins, could these sectors experience a new wave of explosive growth driven by the "Trump effect"? And will he once again catch the market off guard, just as he did during the "$TRUMP token craze"?
In this article, Biteye outlines several key sectors and associated tokens that may stand to benefit.
1. DeFi: Compliance Accelerates Mainstream Adoption
The launch of World Liberty Financial (@worldlibertyfi), a DeFi project backed by the Trump family, has undoubtedly injected strong momentum into the DeFi space. The WLFI project is not hastily assembled; it has undergone thorough legal compliance preparations and operates within a regulated framework, with proactive planning around regulatory adherence. In other words, beyond demonstrating strong confidence in DeFi, WLFI may also foreshadow a more lenient regulatory environment for the crypto industry under a Trump administration.
Additionally, based on the IRS’s proposed DeFi tax regulations from December 2024, we can anticipate more systematic DeFi regulations emerging in 2025. Regulatory clarity could become a defining trend for the crypto industry this year. With clearer compliance frameworks and Trump’s historically relaxed stance on crypto regulation, more traditional financial institutions may be encouraged to enter the DeFi space. Currently, $LINK and $AVAX are the two highest-market-cap tokens in the DeFi sector and are also held by WLFI—making them potential beneficiaries of this policy shift.
2. AI: Trump Vows to Make America the Global Capital of Artificial Intelligence
In his inaugural address, Trump emphasized increased investment and development in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in decentralized AI infrastructure. On Tuesday, the White House announced a collaboration with tech giants including Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank to launch a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative. Then on Thursday, Trump signed an executive order related to both the crypto industry and artificial intelligence, setting a 180-day deadline to develop an “Artificial Intelligence Action Plan,” establish a federal regulatory framework for digital assets (including stablecoins), and assess the creation of a strategic national digital asset reserve. Notably, the order also bans central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which Trump claims would “threaten the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and American sovereignty.”
Against this backdrop, the convergence of AI and blockchain technology becomes especially compelling—particularly in the emerging DeFAI (DeFi x AI) space, where decentralized AI applications and algorithmic trading could receive significant boosts.
3. RWA & DePIN: Tokenizing Real-World Assets
Trump’s World Liberty Financial (@worldlibertyfi) extends beyond DeFi into RWA (real-world assets), holding tokens such as $ENA and $ONDO. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and prominent crypto trader Andrew Kang have both expressed optimism that under Trump’s leadership, tokenization will accelerate the migration of stocks, private companies, and real-world assets (RWA) onto blockchains. Plume Network, a recently launched RWAFi concept project, was even publicly invited to Trump’s inauguration ball—an endorsement that further highlights the political momentum behind RWA.
Beyond RWA, last month at the Blockchain Association’s annual gala, Trump stated that real-world use cases like DePIN help legitimize cryptocurrencies and should be prioritized in legislation.
These developments raise important questions: What impact might Trump’s presidency have on the RWA and DePIN sectors? Under a more favorable regulatory climate, they may be entering a golden era of growth.
4. Meme Coins & the SOL Ecosystem: Reassessing the Potential of the 'Alt Season'
Trump’s $TRUMP meme coin achieved a $24 billion market cap on its first day, sparking renewed interest in the meme coin sector and drawing Web2 speculators into crypto overnight. The $TRUMP phenomenon represents a rare fusion of politics and finance in crypto history—the idea of a "president launching a token" carries profound market implications.
Moreover, the decision to deploy the $TRUMP token on the Solana chain has strengthened market confidence in Solana’s ecosystem and could serve as a catalyst for its future development, with several potential impacts:
-
Increased capital inflow into Solana: Given $TRUMP’s high valuation and the Trump family’s influence, meme coin projects on Solana have attracted massive capital and attention. This influx may extend beyond meme coins, encouraging more developers and projects to choose Solana as their platform of choice.
-
Potential acceleration of a Solana ETF approval: As a leading high-performance blockchain, Solana already meets many criteria for institutional adoption. Trump’s involvement increases Solana’s visibility and credibility in traditional finance, potentially speeding up the approval process for a Solana ETF.
-
Setting the stage for a new 'alt season': Meme coins backed by celebrities and political figures could inspire a wave of similar launches, absorbing significant on-chain liquidity and possibly triggering the next major altcoin rally.
5. World Liberty Holdings & U.S.-Based Tokens: Closest Ties to Trump
These two categories have the strongest direct links to Trump, requiring little explanation. The top ten tokens held by World Liberty include: $ETH, $wBTC, $STETH, $USDC, $TRX, $USDT, $AAVE, $LINK, $ENA, and $ONDO. Additionally, projects that sponsored Trump’s inauguration and crypto-themed ball are worth noting, including TRON, Ripple, Anchorage, Kraken, Sui, MetaMask, Galaxy, Ondo ($ONDO), Solana, eToro, Uniswap, and publicly traded crypto firms such as Coinbase, MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, Nano Labs, Exodus, and Metaplanet.
6. Conclusion
From DeFi to AI, from RWA tokenization to meme coins, Trump—dubbed the “crypto president”—is challenging traditional industry dynamics with every move. His crypto policies could steer the industry toward greater compliance and maturity over the coming years.
Yet the true future of crypto depends not only on short-term policy tailwinds but also on continuous technological innovation and progress in regulatory compliance. Can Solana break through its current bottlenecks? Will DeFi and RWA sectors find renewed vitality within compliant frameworks? At the intersection of deregulation and innovation, how will crypto assets integrate with traditional finance? One thing is clear: the next few years will be pivotal in shaping this transformation.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
@BiteyeCN
