President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly eyeing a crypto executive order on Day 1 of his presidency, set to begin January 20.
The executive order might involve the announcement of a new crypto council or the relaxation of banking restrictions on the crypto industry by eliminating relevant U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, according to Decrypt.
Additional executive orders on crypto are expected to follow in the weeks and months following Trump's inauguration, with the president potentially proposing a single working group on crypto for the two main federal agencies overseeing the digital asset industry — the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); potentially changing a burdensome SEC rule impacting the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, in which Trump has a financial interest through his DeFi project, World Liberty Financial; and potentially adding international crypto innovation to the portfolio of the U.S. Secretary of State.
Meanwhile, Trump is also expected to enact other major economic policies that may impact crypto prices. Last year, Trump hinted at sweeping changes, including stricter immigration controls and increased domestic energy production, stating: “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”
It's unclear how crypto markets might react to impending crypto policy changes. "The financial markets are presently in a consolidation phase, awaiting clarity on the new U.S. administration's initial actions and policy direction following President [Trump]'s inauguration," said Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at YouHodler. Altcoins like ethereum, Solana, and XRP are expected to follow bitcoin's price movement, but will feature "heightened volatility and more pronounced price swings," Lienkha said.
"This phase of uncertainty is expected to result in a neutral-to-negative flat market over the next several weeks, characterized by limited net capital inflows or outflows," Lienkha added.