.png){kind=logo}
In a daring bid to reshape the world’s financial map, President Donald Trump has targeted making America the ‘unmatched Bitcoin superpower and crypto capital of the world.’ His government has embarked on an ambitious agenda to mainstream cryptocurrencies in the national economy, a sharp contrast to earlier regulatory crackdowns.
With the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the crypto Czar appointment, and the dismantling of roadblocks to digital asset expansion, the US is telegraphing its ambition to lead the future of finance. While the crypto space is embracing this new enthusiasm, however, the naysayers caution that the path forward is filled with uncertainty, regulatory roadblocks, and international competition.
Trump on March 6, 2025, signed an executive order forming the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which is a pioneering initiative to keep bitcoin as a national asset. The reserve will be constructed from cryptocurrencies seized by US Treasury, in addition to a newly created US Digital Asset Stockpile for other digital assets. The government sees this as a strategic initiative to improve economic resilience and demonstrate US leadership in the digital age of finance.
Positioning has a crypto agenda as a reversal of past administrations’ restrictive policies, Trump has promised to put an end to what he refers to as the ‘regulatory war on crypto and Bitcoin.’ His administration is actively seeking to create clear rules for stablecoins and crypto market structures with the goal of bringing clarity to investors and businesses.
To lead these initiatives, Trump has hired David Sacks as the AI and cryptocurrency czar to head the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. Sack’s job will play a pivotal role in influencing policies surrounding blockchain adoption, financial technology, and artificial intelligence; critical spaces that will potentially determine the future of digital finance.
The pro-crypto policies of the administration have created interest as well as cynicism. There are investors who view it as a sign of maturity for the cryptocurrency market, with billionaire investor Kevin O’Leary asserting that with Trump at the helm, cryptocurrency is getting beyond its ‘Wild West’ era and converging with conventional money systems.
However, critics persist that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still too volatile to be stable national assets. They argue that, while there is increasing mainstream adoption, digital currencies have yet to acquire the institutional support and long-term stability of established assets, such as gold.
Trump’s Christmas push for crypto dominance has also triggered global responses, with nations like India revisiting their policies regarding digital currencies. India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth admitted that since the cryptocurrencies cross geographical boundaries, India’s strategy cannot be unilateral. Accordingly, a much-awaited discussion paper on crypto rules due in September 2024 has been put off to allow for a more comprehensive review.
Despite of India’s 30 percent capital gains tax and a 1 percent transactional charge, digital asset adoption keeps growing. The Financial Intelligence Unit has acted against non-compliant exchanges, while the Reserve Bank of India is cautious. Meanwhile, market regulators are mulling a multi-agency approach, which indicates a possible change in India’s crypto policy.
While Trump’s vision to make America a Bitcoin leader is apparent, there are important hurdles still to be overcome. Cryptocurrency markets are highly unstable, regulatory clarity still hangs in the air, and how to provide security within a decentralised framework is a problem that still must be solved.
Additionally, the US government has the tricky task of being an innovation supporter and also a regulator, a task that will determine the success and failure of these policies. As the world’s financial order undergoes transformation, everyone looks towards the US and India, two of the globe’s biggest economies, struggling with the complicated and fast-paced domain of digital assets. Whether Trump’s gamble with crypto will recast the order of finance or turn out to be an experimental attempt is a mystery only time can tell.
