Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared an end to the “four-year siege” on cryptocurrency, unveiling a sweeping federal report that charts America’s path to becoming the world’s crypto capital.
Speaking at the White House, Bessent announced over 100 regulatory and legislative recommendations aimed at reversing what he called the previous administration’s “anti-crypto army.”
The report arrives exactly one year after President Trump promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the world.” According to Bessent, that promise has been delivered “in every way.”
“November 4, 2024, was America’s Hard Fork on digital assets,” Bessent said, referencing the blockchain term for a major protocol change.
The Treasury Secretary painted a stark contrast between current and past policies. He accused the prior administration of waging “endless lawfare against legitimate businesses” and attempting to “debank digital asset companies en masse via Operation Choke Point 2.0.”
Under Trump, Bessent noted, regulatory persecution has ended. The administration has closed enforcement actions against major crypto companies and appointed entrepreneur, investor, and payments expert David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar.
The new Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets compiled the report after months of research and over 1,000 stakeholder meetings. Its recommendations span illicit finance prevention, crypto taxation reform, stablecoin regulation, and modernized banking rules for digital assets.
One legislative milestone Bessent highlighted was the GENIUS Act, which provides regulatory clarity for the stablecoin market. He predicted this sector could grow into a “multitrillion-dollar industry.”
The Secretary also urged Senate passage of the CLARITY Act, calling regulatory certainty “essential to cementing our status as the crypto capital of the world.”
“Start your companies here. Launch your protocols here. And hire your workers here,” Bessent told global crypto entrepreneurs. “You’ll be glad you did.”
The Treasury Secretary framed cryptocurrency as America’s next frontier, comparing blockchain innovation to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
“To be American is to be constantly moving, constantly innovating, and constantly living on the edge of what is possible,” he said.
