#TrumpBitcoinEmpire

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Many of the world’s biggest crypto firms were under intense fire from former President Joe Biden’s Wall Street regulators over allegations that they were violating decades-old investor protections. But Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped most of those lawsuits and investigations, while his administration has rolled out a series of industry-friendly proposals such as a plan for the U.S. government to hold bitcoin reserves.

“President Trump is dedicated to making America the crypto capital of the world and revolutionizing our digital financial technology,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. “His assets are in a trust managed by his children, and there are no conflicts of interest.”

Yet Trump’s reach into the market is causing issues.

Earlier this month, Democrats managed to temporarily sidetrack a landmark crypto bill proposing how to regulate so-called stablebcoins — a token backed by an underlying asset like the dollar — by dredging up the president’s connections with the industry. Another crypto executive expects that a separate bill proposing how the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, oversee the industry won’t move forward until after the midterm elections next year because of the uproar over Trump’s ventures.

A third industry official said that while it ultimately is a question about ethics, the ventures are giving crypto’s critics new fodder to bash the industry — reviving their opposition just months after Trump’s election quieted many of them.

The industry’s brewing concerns present a new front in the pushback in Washington over Trump’s increasing footprint within the industry, which critics have warned could become a new means for corporate actors and foreign entities to influence the administration.