From coindesk By Jesse Hamilton, Cheyenne Ligon, Nikhilesh De
Donald Trump speaking at the White House crypto summit. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)
What to know:
- President Donald Trump pledged to end Operation Chokepoint 2.0, said he hoped to sign stablecoin legislation by August and touted his recent executive order creating a Bitcoin stockpile.
- A range of digital assets CEOs attended the summit, alongside various members of Trump's government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump assured the crypto sector that it's on new ground in a first-ever summit at the White House on Friday, illustrating what the industry suspected: It's got friends at every level in Washington.
"I know that many of you have been fighting for years for this, and it's an honor to be with you at the White House," Trump said as the White House meeting got underway.
In his brief statement, Trump said he would end his predecessor's “war on crypto,” praised lawmakers' legislative efforts and discussed his new Bitcoin reserve.
“Regulators strong armed banks. I mean, they really did – They strong armed banks into closing the accounts of crypto businesses and entrepreneurs, effectively blocking some money transfers to and from exchanges, and they weaponized government against the entire industry,” Trump said. "But I know that feeling also maybe better than you do. All of that will soon be over and we are ending Operation Chokepoint 2.0."
Trump said he wanted to sign stablecoin legislation before Congress breaks for the August recess.
"I also want to express my strong support for the efforts of lawmakers in Congress as they work on bills to provide regulatory certainty for dollar-backed stablecoins and the digital assets market," he said. "They're working very hard on that. This is a tremendous opportunity for economic growth and innovation in our financial sector, and will really go a long way."
Referring to his Thursday executive order creating a Bitcoin reserve, Trump said it was "foolish" that the federal government had already sold so much of its seized Bitcoin
"The federal government is already among the largest holders of Bitcoin, as you know, really one of the largest holders in the world, with as many as 200,000 Bitcoin obtained via civil law and various other forms of law, including enforcement actions," he said. "These existing holdings will form the foundation of the new reserve."