Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has published a guide on the Trump administration’s approach to the crypto-asset industry, including potential regulatory implications and outlook. The key takeaways from the guide, which was authored by lawyers from the firm’s Banking, Capital Markets, National Security and White Collar Groups, are:
- President Trump has positioned himself as an ally of the crypto-asset industry. Signaling a sharp shift from the Biden administration’s approach, President Trump’s Executive Order on crypto aims to establish federal policy that promotes the responsible growth and use of digital assets and blockchain technology and to achieve “regulatory clarity and certainty.”
- The Executive Order directs the formation of a working group composed of relevant agency heads and establishes a 180-day timeline for recommended legislative and regulatory proposals for a federal regulatory framework governing the issuance and operation of digital assets and the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile.
- While we expect early regulatory efforts to create greater clarity on crypto-asset characterization, applicability of SEC requirements and permissible banking activities, we expect the formation of the new regulatory regime necessary to substantially open up the space to be a multi-year project.
- New leadership at financial regulators and the administration’s favorable stance on crypto could potentially unlock new opportunities for the U.S. financial and banking industries to engage in crypto-related activities, but enforcement risks for deficient (or absent) BSA/AML compliance programs are likely to remain.
View the full guide here.
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