As of March 2025, the US government's attitude towards virtual currencies has shown a significant policy shift, centered on the 'support for innovation and regulatory balance' led by the Trump administration, reflecting a strategic intention to integrate with the traditional financial system. Below is a comprehensive analysis of the current policy dynamics:
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### One, Policy Shift: From Caution to Active Support
Since taking office in 2024, the Trump administration has prioritized cryptocurrency as a national strategic issue, reversing the strict regulatory stance of the Biden era through multiple executive orders and policy adjustments. For example:
1. **Repeal of Restrictive Policies from the Biden Era**: Abolish Biden's 2022 executive order on cryptocurrency regulation (EO 14067) and establish a 'Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets' aimed at reducing regulatory barriers, promoting innovation, and ensuring US leadership in the global digital economy.
2. **Promoting Regulatory Clarity**: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established a special working group to clarify token classification (security or commodity) and abolish the SAB 121 regulation that hindered banks from custodizing cryptocurrencies, allowing financial institutions to participate more freely in crypto business.
3. **White House Cryptocurrency Summit**: On March 7, 2025, Trump hosted the first White House crypto summit, gathering industry leaders to discuss regulatory frameworks, stablecoin strategies, and the role of Bitcoin in the financial system, aiming to make the US a 'global blockchain innovation center.'
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### Two, Core Regulatory Issues and Innovation Directions
1. **Dollar Strategic Positioning of Stablecoins**
Stablecoins are seen as tools to expand the international dominance of the dollar. The summit focused on how to develop a regulatory framework to support the compliant development of stablecoins like USDT and USDC, while controlling risks. For example, the US may legislate to clarify the reserve requirements and transparency standards for stablecoin issuers.
2. **Cryptocurrency Strategic Reserve Plan**
Trump proposed incorporating mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum into the national strategic reserve to hedge against the risk of dollar depreciation. Although the feasibility is questioned, if implemented, this plan could enhance the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies and attract institutional capital inflow.
3. **Market Structure and Investor Protection**
The Digital Assets Working Group plans to release recommendations for market structure reforms, balancing innovation and risk management. For example, strengthening compliance reviews of exchanges, improving anti-money laundering mechanisms, and promoting the popularization of financial products like Bitcoin ETFs.
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### Three, Differences Between the Two Parties and the Impact of Election Politics
Cryptocurrency has become an important issue in the US elections, with clear differences in the positions of both parties:
- **Republican Party (Trump's camp)**: Advocates for loose regulation to attract cryptocurrency businesses back to the US, and supports the mining industry through tax cuts and legislative support. Trump stated that 'the exit of cryptocurrency from the US would harm long-term interests' and criticized Biden's mining tax policy.
- **Democratic Party (Biden's camp)**: More focused on risk control, having proposed a 30% energy tax on Bitcoin mining (DAME tax), and supporting the SEC to strengthen investor protection measures. The Biden administration believes that excessive easing could lead to financial instability.
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### Four, Market Response and Industry Expectations
1. **Inflow of Institutional Capital**: After regulatory clarity, traditional financial institutions like Bank of America and BlackRock are accelerating their layout in the crypto field. Bitcoin spot ETFs have attracted over $40 billion in funds since their launch in 2024, and Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin could rise to $250,000 in 2025.
2. **Trend of Technological Integration**: The application of artificial intelligence in crypto trading and security is deepening, such as using AI algorithms for real-time monitoring of market fluctuations and fraud prevention, with 2025 potentially becoming a key year for technology-driven compliance transformation.
3. **Risks Remain**: Despite favorable policies, the market still faces volatility challenges. Bitcoin fell by 22% shortly after Trump took office, and the specific implementation details of the strategic reserve plan and fiscal deficit pressures (with a deficit of $1.147 trillion in the first five months of FY 2025) could constrain policy effectiveness.
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### Five, International Collaboration and Competition
The United States is actively promoting cross-border regulatory cooperation, such as establishing a 'digital currency regulatory sandbox' with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and pushing for a global tax information exchange mechanism under the G20 framework. At the same time, the rise of the digital yuan (with an international trade settlement share of 6.2%) is prompting the US to accelerate its layout of international discourse power in cryptocurrency.
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### Summary
The current US government's cryptocurrency policy is centered on 'innovation-driven' approaches, attempting to consolidate its global leadership through regulatory framework restructuring, strategic reserve plans, and international collaboration. However, the effectiveness of policy implementation is still constrained by the tug-of-war between the two parties, market volatility, and macroeconomic pressures. Future attention should focus on the fine-tuning of the White House summit outcomes, progress on stablecoin legislation, and the actual trends of institutional capital.
