President Trump Issues Executive Order to Establish Digital Assets Regulatory Framework
February 10, 2025
On January 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” the purpose of which is to “support the responsible growth and use of digital assets” (the “Executive Order”).1 Declaring that the “digital asset industry plays a crucial role in innovation and economic development in the United States,” the Executive Order states that the Administration’s policy is to support the responsible growth and use of blockchain technology.
Through the Executive Order, the President, among other things: (i) revoked certain actions taken during the Biden Administration, (ii) prohibited agencies from exploring central bank digital currencies (“CBDCs”), and (iii) established an interagency working group on digital assets markets.
Revocation of Executive Order 14067 and Department of Treasury Framework
The Executive Order expressly revokes President’s Biden’s March 2022 Executive Order 14067 (“EO 14067”), which was titled “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.” The purpose of EO 14067 was to establish a comprehensive federal strategy for regulating digital assets, and it directed the heads of federal agencies to explore the creation of a US CBDC.2 EO 14067 emphasized precautionary measures centered on mitigating illicit finance and promoting financial stability and consumer protection.
The Executive Order also directs the Secretary of the Treasury to “immediately revoke” the “Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets,” which the Treasury Department issued on July 7, 2022 (the “Framework”). The Framework reflected an interagency effort to implement the directives of EO 14067 and outlined how the US government planned to engage with international partners on digital asset regulation, innovation, and enforcement. Among other objectives, the Framework sought to strengthen cooperation with international organizations, combat illicit finance and national security risks in the digital assets industry, and support technological developments to support a CBDC.
President Trump’s revocation of EO 14067 and the Framework signals a shift away from international regulatory cooperation and CBDCs in favor of a domestic-focused approach centered on deregulation, financial autonomy, and technological innovation.
Prohibition on CBDCs
Under the Executive Order, federal agencies are prohibited from “undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs” in the US and abroad. This includes immediately terminating any active plans and initiatives related to the creation of CBDCs in the US.
The CBDC prohibition is consistent with President Trump’s campaign message that he would never allow the creation of a CBDC because it would give the federal government “absolute control” over people’s money. The President and other CBDC opponents have expressed concerns that a US CBDC would give the federal government greater visibility into Americans’ financial transactions, as well as threaten sovereignty and financial stability.
By contrast, other countries continue to work towards establishing and growing their own CBDCs. For example, the European Central Bank plans to announce key features for a digital euro later this year.
President’s Working Group on Digital Assets Market
The Executive Order also establishes a working group comprised of the heads of several federal agencies, including the SEC and CFTC, and will be chaired by the President’s Special Advisor for AI and Crypto.
The working group is tasked with making regulatory and legislative recommendations quickly. Within 30 days of the Executive Order, agency heads must identify “all” regulations, guidance, orders, and other items that “affect the digital asset sector.” And within 60 days of the Executive Order, each federal agency must submit to the chair of the working group each regulation, guidance, document, and order that requires rescission, modification, or adoption in a regulation.
Within 180 days of the Executive Order—July 22, 2025—the working group must submit to President Trump a recommendation on regulatory and legislative proposals, including (i) a proposed federal regulatory framework relating to the issuance and operation of digital assets, including specifically stablecoins; and (ii) the potential establishment of a “national digital asset stockpile” and criteria for that stockpile, which the Executive Order indicates can be comprised of crypto lawfully seized by the government through enforcement efforts. The Executive Order further states that the working group shall hold, as appropriate, public hearings and receive expertise from digital assets and markets leaders.
Agencies are already setting to work. On February 6, 2025, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Commissioner Hester Peirce, who heads the SEC’s newly-created Crypto Task Force, issued a statement laying out the task force’s top ten priorities.3 These priorities include, among others, examining the security status of crypto assets, providing temporary prospective and retroactive relief for token offerings, charting a path for registered offerings, and establishing a regulatory framework for custody solutions, crypto-lending, and staking.
Commissioner Peirce criticized the SEC’s approach to crypto over the last decade, saying that the agency “refused to use regulatory tools at its disposal and incessantly slammed on the enforcement brakes.” Commissioner Peirce invites industry participants to engage with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force through written submissions and requests for meetings.
Conclusion
The Executive Order demonstrates a significant shift in US policy relating to digital assets. Under the Biden Administration, the US was more involved in shaping international crypto standards, but President Trump’s Executive Order signals that the US may disengage from global regulatory coordination.
At the same time, the Executive Order reflects President Trump’s overall objective of making the US a more crypto-friendly jurisdiction with less regulation, more investment in digital assets projects, and positioning the US as a hub for blockchain innovation, led by the private sector.
1 Executive Order, The White House, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology” (Jan. 23, 2025), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/strengthening-american-leadership-in-digital-financial-technology/.
2 The Executive Order defines a CBDC as “a form of digital money or monetary value, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank.”
3 Statement, Commissioner Hester Peirce, “The Journey Begins” (February 4, 2025), available at https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-journey-begins-020425.
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