How Trump's Bitcoin policy could make America a global crypto hub?
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
How Trump's Bitcoin policy could make America a global crypto hub?
A bipartisan effort to ease regulations and establish a strategic reserve for crypto assets appears to be insulating the cryptocurrency market from turmoil on Wall Street.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsText: Leigh Cuen, Forbes
Translation: Luffy, Foresight News
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele have both pursued pro-bitcoin economic strategies, setting themselves apart in the global crypto market
Image source: Bloomberg
Trump is overhauling cryptocurrency regulation, updating tax policies, and moving to establish a national Bitcoin reserve strategy—putting the U.S. on a path to become the first G7 economy to fully embrace digital assets.
Sandy Carter, contributor at Forbes, wrote: "Trump’s second administration has already begun reshaping America’s cryptocurrency landscape."
Smaller nations like El Salvador have attracted Bitcoin businesses by building strategic Bitcoin reserves and implementing crypto-friendly policies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently restricted El Salvador from future Bitcoin purchases, but the country has already accumulated approximately 6,101 Bitcoins as part of its strategic reserve. Tether, one of the world’s most profitable crypto companies, reportedly relocated its headquarters to El Salvador.
Like El Salvador’s President Bukele, Trump attracted voters from the crypto community during his 2024 campaign. In July last year, he made striking promises to an enthusiastic crypto audience at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
Susie Violet Ward, a Forbes contributor who attended the event, reported that Trump declared the U.S. would become a “Bitcoin mining superpower” and urged supporters to never sell their Bitcoin.
“The convergence of political will and financial innovation marks a defining moment of the Trump era—and signals broader mainstream political recognition of Bitcoin,” wrote Susie Violet Ward.
Despite market turmoil caused by Trump’s erratic tariff policies, his crypto-friendly measures have helped prevent Bitcoin prices from falling below the previous cycle peak of around $73,000. The relative stability in crypto prices may be partly due to the U.S. government’s newly adopted, more lenient regulatory stance.
Republicans see Singapore’s success through minimalist regulation and are adapting this crypto strategy for the U.S. context
Trump's Crypto Policy Emulates Singapore and Dubai’s Light-Touch Regulation Model
Zennon Kapron, fintech writer based in Singapore and director at the Asian Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association, noted that Singapore built its reputation as a crypto hub not by doing much, but by avoiding complex regulations—even without establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
"Crypto companies flock to Singapore less because of what it does and more because of what it doesn’t ban," said Kapron.
He added that thanks to its minimalist regulatory approach, Singapore became the third-largest blockchain investment center globally in 2023, behind only the U.S. and the U.K.
Seeing Singapore’s rapid rise under light-touch regulation, Trump has established a similar regulatory framework within his administration. This relatively hands-off strategy aligns more closely with non-interventionist policies enjoyed by crypto investors in places like the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong. Following this logic, on April 10, Trump signed H.J. Res. 25 into law, simplifying the previously burdensome (and sometimes practically impossible) tax reporting requirements for decentralized finance (DeFi) brokers.
Robert Woods, tax contributor at Forbes, explained: “Taxpayers must know when they bought cryptocurrency, how much they paid, and what they received. For stocks and real estate, this might be straightforward—but for crypto, it can get far more complicated. Many crypto investors make multiple purchases over many years at different times.”
While users and firms still need to report taxable events, the simplified paperwork makes compliance easier for Americans. Prior to this new tax guidance, in March the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency sent a letter rescinding prior guidance that had made it difficult for banks and savings institutions to offer crypto services.
Earlier this month, a memo from the U.S. Department of Justice revealed the dissolution of a specialized team of prosecutors focused on crypto companies. According to Forbes contributor Andrea Tinianow, this shift could positively impact pending court cases related to crypto privacy tools such as Tornado Cash—cases that will determine whether “developers can be held criminally liable for open-source code used by others to commit financial crimes.” Per a memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, law enforcement will no longer act as “regulators through prosecution” in the digital asset space, instead focusing on targeting “bad actors.”
The memo states: “The DOJ will no longer target virtual currency exchanges, mixing services, or offline wallets based on the actions of end users or inadvertent violations.” In short, the DOJ will stop holding developers of crypto tools or legitimate, tax-compliant crypto service providers accountable. The Trump administration wants the government out of the crypto industry.
Joshua Smeltzer, tax contributor at Forbes, wrote: “This move aims to reduce regulatory burdens, encourage responsible innovation, and ensure consistent treatment of banking activities regardless of whether the underlying technology involves blockchain.”
This may be inspired by smaller nations adopting more permissive crypto regulations. Irina Heaver, Dubai-based lawyer and Forbes contributor, noted that hundreds of crypto firms have flocked to the UAE, regulated by Dubai’s DMCC, now contributing 7% of the country’s GDP.
“Regulatory clarity is the cornerstone of Dubai’s success as a crypto hub,” wrote Heaver.
Recently, President Trump’s son Eric Trump, together with his brother Donald Trump Jr., announced the launch of a new Bitcoin mining company, American Bitcoin
Bitcoin Mining Dominance
Trump makes no secret of his goal: clearing obstacles for the crypto industry to bring high-paying jobs and mining dominance to the United States.
According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, the most powerful crypto mining operations in 2022 originated from China or Russia. Since then, dozens of companies have relocated to Texas, though progress stalled during the Biden administration.
Now, Trump’s second term coincides with crypto’s four-year bull market cycle; Bitcoin’s price has risen nearly 30% since Trump’s election victory six months ago.
Abubakar Nur Khalil, Forbes contributor, Bitcoin core developer, and venture capitalist, wrote: “Bitcoin prices surge significantly during each halving cycle—both in the year of the halving and two years afterward. Unlike previous halvings, investors today can leverage an expanding array of financial instruments to capture Bitcoin’s price movements—from direct BTC purchases and shares of mining firms, to stocks of publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets, and Bitcoin ETFs.”
Legal experts such as Tonya Evans, former professor at Penn State Dickinson Law and Forbes contributor, also point out the unprecedented nature of the Trump family personally benefiting from crypto ventures while in office. Beyond various altcoin ventures, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. earlier this month announced their new Bitcoin mining enterprise, American Bitcoin.
Trump hopes to include assets like BTC, ETH, ADA, and XRP in a strategic cryptocurrency reserve
Bipartisan Support for a Strategic Crypto Reserve
So far, Trump’s strategy for a strategic Bitcoin reserve appears to enjoy bipartisan backing. Sam Lyman, Forbes contributor, described California Congressman Ro Khanna as “a key voice on crypto issues within the Democratic caucus,” while Alabama Democrat Shomari Figures and Arizona Democrat Yassamin Ansari have issued public statements indicating possible support for the initiative. Ansari pledged she would “lead the way on blockchain and crypto innovation.”
In addition, 14 Democrats—including New York Congressman Ritchie Torres—sent a letter last year to the chair of the Democratic National Committee urging the party to adopt a forward-looking stance on digital assets and blockchain technology. Even Trump himself stated in March that he hopes to include higher-risk assets such as ETH, ADA, and XRP in the strategic crypto reserve.
Beyond welcoming Bitcoin mining firms, holding diverse cryptocurrencies in strategic reserves, and pausing enforcement against small industry participants, the Trump administration is leveraging bipartisan interest in protecting dollar-pegged stablecoins. If globally popular crypto assets continue to be tied to the U.S. dollar, this could indirectly benefit the American economy.
Cleve Mesidor, executive director of the Blockchain Foundation and Forbes contributor, said: “The recent 13-hour marathon amendment session on the 'Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability to Promote Better Ledger Economy Act' may signal the need for extended bipartisan cooperation.”
It’s too early to say whether these policies will attract new companies to the U.S., but industry leaders like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong are now criticizing the previous administration and expressing preference for Trump’s policies. Numerous crypto firms—including Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, Robinhood, and Circle—have also donated to Trump’s inauguration committee. Shortly after Ripple’s donation, U.S. regulators dropped legal charges against the company related to XRP, and the Trump administration subsequently included XRP in its strategic reserve plan.
Trump attending the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last year
The Future of U.S. Crypto Businesses and Bitcoin Price Trends
Bipartisan efforts to ease regulations and build a strategic reserve of crypto assets appear to be insulating the crypto market from turbulence on Wall Street. Bitcoin’s current price trend is notably more stable than the broader U.S. stock market.
The current halving cycle is expected to conclude in early 2026, and Trump administration policies may further influence the Bitcoin market. This includes the normalization of conflicts of interest, with the Trump family now actively involved in crypto ventures, along with reallocating enforcement resources and granting pardons to Bitcoin pioneers such as Ross Ulbricht (founder of Silk Road), and Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, and Gregory Dwyer (founders of BitMEX).
Looking ahead, operating crypto businesses in the U.S. may involve significantly less legal risk.
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
Forbes
