Since taking office 30 days ago, President Trump has implemented a series of policies and appointments in support of cryptocurrencies. Trump has appointed several executives who support cryptocurrencies to important regulatory positions and established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk. Trump also launched his own cryptocurrency, TRUMP, and announced a $500 billion investment plan to stimulate the artificial intelligence industry in the United States. Furthermore, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, and established an internal task force to make the U.S. the world capital of cryptocurrency. Trump’s pro-cryptocurrency policies are expected to drive growth potential in the industry.

It has been one month since US President Donald Trump was sworn into office and began making sweeping and controversial changes, many of which directly affect the cryptocurrency industry. Just 30 days into his presidency, Trump has cherry-picked several pro-crypto executives for top regulatory roles, and he’s created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a temporary contracted organization in which Elon Musk serves as de facto leader. During Trump and Musk’s affectionate interview on Feb. 18, the duo said DOGE — and Musk himself — aim to give “tech support” to the administration, streamlining what it perceives as wasteful spending and radically restructuring federal agencies. Here’s a look at the major crypto-related events that have defined Trump’s 30 days in office. Trump’s first day ushered in a slew of executive orders — 42, to be exact. The crypto industry was disappointed to learn none were aimed in its direction, but pundits didn’t have to wait long. The US president made waves when he launched his own memecoin, TRUMP, on the Solana blockchain. The token pumped to a $15-billion market capitalization on Jan. 19 before dropping some 40% on Jan. 20. Days later, First Lady Melania Trump announced her eponymous memecoin, MELANIA . On inauguration day, the Trump family’s decentralized finance venture, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), marked the occasion by buying nearly $47 million in cryptocurrencies . The purchase brought the total holdings of WLFI up to $326 million. Right out of the gate on Jan. 20, DOGE began facing lawsuits for what claimants allege were violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which governs federal committees to ensure public involvement in the process. Plaintiffs include watchdog and transparency groups such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, consumer protection group Public Citizen, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to change several of these agencies to be more amenable to crypto, notably the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Jan. 21, the Trump administration began changing the leadership of key federal agencies , including the SEC, with the nomination of SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler. While Atkins awaits Senate confirmation — he has not been confirmed as of publishing time — Acting Chair Mark Uyeda leads the agency with a more convivial approach to the digital assets industry. Uyeda has criticized the SEC’s enforcement under Gensler, saying it “neither facilitates capital formation nor protects investors.” On Jan. 21, the SEC quickly got to work on honing crypto regulations with the creation of a cryptocurrency task force at the direction of pro-crypto Commissioner Hester Peirce. Acting Chair Ayuda said the group’s main goal is to “help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously.” Also on Jan. 21, Trump announced “Stargate,” a $500-billion investment initiative led by private firms to stimulate the US AI industry. Trump said that initial funders included OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle, claiming the project would create “over 100,000 American jobs.” Musk panned the project, claiming that the backers didn’t have the money, and US AI effectiveness was called into question with the launch of DeepSeek. Still, as of Feb. 13, the project was well underway . On Jan. 22, Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht , who had already served almost a decade in federal prison. The presidential commendation came after years of campaigning from prison reform advocates, libertarian groups and cryptocurrency industry insiders. In commuting Ulbricht’s life sentence, which he had been serving since 2015, Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to free him immediately upon entering office. On Jan. 23, Trump established an “internal working group to make America the world capital in crypto” through an executive order. The group is tasked with studying the feasibility of a national crypto reserve and making a crypto regulatory framework. It also bans the creation of a central bank digital currency. The working group will consist of the US Treasury secretary, attorney general, SEC chair, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair, members of Trump’s cabinet and other agency heads. Notably, the order specifically excludes the US Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The group will report to David Sacks, the administration’s official AI and crypto czar. On Jan. 27, the US Senate voted 68–29 to support the nomination of billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as secretary of the Treasury. When Trump first tapped Bessent in November 2024, Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett described him as “very pro-crypto, particularly pro-Bitcoin.” He reportedly said, “I have been excited about the president’s embrace of crypto and I think it fits very well with the Republican Party, crypto is about freedom, and the crypto economy is here to stay.” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse congratulated him on X: On Feb. 2, Trump signed yet another executive order, this time levying tariffs on goods made by Mexico, Canada and China. The markets reacted violently, with some tech stocks setting new records in single-day losses on Wall Street. Trump eventually paused the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, but the move called his economic strategy. The concomitant crypto market fallout also underlined how crypto assets are becoming increasingly correlated with traditional financial markets. On Feb. 3, Trump fired Rohit Chopra , the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB oversees the financial sector and has jurisdiction over banks, securities firms and payday lenders, in addition to other for-profit institutions. In an official notice, the CFPB said Bessent would become acting head of the government agency until a replacement could be found. The exact reasoning behind the move is unclear. However, there are reports that it was part of the wider drive to reduce oversight over the banking industry, with Musk previously calling to “delete” the agency. On Feb. 7, former CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam announced his last day at the agency after eight years of serving the CFTC as a commissioner and the regulator’s chair. Behnam said he would step down a month earlier, making way for a new acting chair to take his place until another is appointed. Behnam has called on lawmakers to make clear guidelines for cryptocurrencies, saying, “The crypto era has highlighted the need for our ruleset to address the derivatives industry’s current course.” On Feb. 9, Trump announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the United States and said that he would launch reciprocal tariffs on countries that had their own levies on US goods. The further aggressive economic policies from the White House briefly sent the price of Bitcoin tumbling . Market observers are expecting further volatility, as Trump has floated the idea of tariffs on the European Union, superconductors, oil, gas, steel and copper. On Feb. 12, the US exchanged Alexander Vinnik , the former operator of the crypto exchange BTC-e, for American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who was in Russian custody. Vinnik pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy charges in May 2024, in which he had illegally moved funds through crypto exchange BTC-e. Fogel had been in Russian custody since 2021, when he was arrested at a Moscow airport for cannabis possession. Just a week after Behnam stepped down, Trump nominated Brian Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner and executive at event betting marketplace Kalshi, to be the new head of the regulatory agency. Quintenz, who also has worked at crypto-friendly venture capital firm a16z, is expected to bring a welcome change to the crypto industry, as he has made several pro-crypto statements. He reportedly gave numerous presentations on Bitcoin and decentralized finance while at the CFTC. After waves of cuts, layoffs and restructuring at other federal agencies, DOGE, under the de facto leadership of Musk, is reportedly targeting the SEC next. “They are at the gates,” said an anonymous source in a Feb. 17 Politico report . A DOGE affiliate account on X, of which there are dozens, made a post on Feb. 18 asking for information about possible insights on “finding and fixing waste” at the SEC. On Feb. 19, the US Senate confirmed billionaire Howard Lutnick as the next secretary of Commerce. Following the 52–45 vote, Lutnick immediately stepped down from his role as CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. While his firm holds a stake in crypto stablecoin issuer Tether, Lutnick has said that he’d sell his shares in business and other private investments within 90 days. It’s been a remarkably eventful first month for the sitting US president. Though his first day in office didn’t include crypto, he’s made up for it in spades in the days that followed. Trump’s pro-crypto nominees, many of whom have already been appointed, are expected to usher in friendly policies that will solidify the industry’s growth potential in the coming years. The president’s allies in Congress are already working on stablecoin legislation in an effort to bring the industry “onshore” to the United States. At the state level, momentum is growing for the creation of state Bitcoin ( BTC ) and crypto reserves as crypto-focused lawmakers take action at the local level. Magazine: MegaETH launch could save Ethereum… but at what cost? 

Trump's First 30 Days: Major Changes in Cryptocurrency Policy