Sitting under a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, more than two dozen of the most powerful figures in the American Cryptocurrency industry, along with many billions of dollars collected at the White House on Friday for an audience with President Trump.
When Mr. Trump entered the ornate dining room of the state after a brief reception, the leaders rose to applaud.
“Many of you have fought for years for this,” Mr. Trump said as the room calmed down. “There is an honor to be with you in the White House.”
Mr Trump was holding a “cryptocurrency summit” of its first kind, meeting face -to -face with the leaders of almost all the highest cryptocurrency companies in the United States. Only a small part of the meeting, which was planned to last four hours, was broadcast to the public. But she offered a vibrant illustration of Mr Trump’s latest embracing Crypto, a renegate industry that has spent years fighting with American regulators.
Some leaders, including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the founders of Gemini Crypto Exchange offered words of gratitude to Mr. Trump. They called him “wonderful”, saying they were “pleased” with his approach.
“Senior IQ individuals around this table,” replied Mr. Trump.
Since he took office, Mr. Trump has orchestrated a complete transformation of federal policy over cryptocurrencies. The Insurance and Exchange Commission has almost completely changed an aggressive campaign by the Biden administration to hit the industry. The agency, moving at stunning speed, has issued legal guidelines to help cryptocurrencies, completed investigations into large firms and filed lawsuits against two of the largest exchanges, Coinbase and Kraken.
Leaders of both of those companies were invited to the White House on Thursday. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s chief executive, sat down two places away from the president.
“It signals that the industry is finally a serious industry,” said JP Richardson, who runs the Firm of EXODUS and was invited to the Mr. Trump summit. “We believe that technology can radically change the world. And in fact having this administration take it seriously is really important. “
The meeting was also a reminder of Mr. Trump’s personal investment in cryptocurrencies, which ethics experts described as an alarming conflict of interest. The list of guests included Zach Witkoff, the son of Steve Witkoff, a close friend of the president who serves as the Special Adliance of the Middle East. Young Mr. Witkoff is a founder of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency business that Mr. Trump promoted a lot last year – and from whom he and his family benefit directly.
Formerly a Skeptic of Crypers, Mr. Trump embraced digital coins in the campaign footprint last year, as cryptocurrencies spent tens of millions of dollars to support it, as well as Congress candidates supporting technology.
Soon, Mr. Trump entered the market himself. Last fall, he and his sons worked with Witkoffs to start financial World Liberty, promoting it as a platform for borrowing and borrowing in cryptocurrencies. World Liberty has its own digital currency, WLFI, and the Trump family gets a reduction in sales.
Just days before his inauguration, Mr. Trump also began to sell a so -called Memein, a kind of cryptocurrency associated with an online joke or a famous mascot. The currency, called $ Trump, grew briefly and then collapsed, costing investors a $ 2 billion cumulative.
Since winning the elections, Mr Trump has taken steps to increase industry prospects, naming cryptocurrencies in senior administration positions and demanding that federal agencies develop a new approach to regulation.
On Thursday night, he signed an executive order to create a national reserve of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrency. The plan was decided by cryptocurrencies as a strategy to give up national debt.
Skeptics have attacked the proposal as a scheme to enrich a small number of cryptic investors. Even some of Mr. Trump’s supporters in the technology world have joined in criticism.
After Mr. Trump harassed the reserve announcement on social media last weekend, Joe Lonsdale, a prominent technology investor, wrote in X that the government should not spend money on the Crypto Bro schemes.
None of those disagreements were on the show at the summit. Sitting next to David Sacks, Czar White House Cryptors’ policy, Mr. Trump greeted the event as a turning point in treating the Cryptocast industry.
“I promised to make America the world’s Bitcoin superpower and the Crypto capital of the planet,” said Mr. Trump. “We are taking historical actions to make that promise.”
He said Bitcoin’s new national reserve would create a virtual Knox virtual for the country’s properties. “Never sell your bitcoin,” Mr. Trump said.
In his speech, Mr. Sack praised Mr. Trump’s leadership, saying the administration was “moving the technology rapidly”. The industry was subject to “prosecution and persecution” under the administration of Biden, he said.
“No one knows what feels better than you,” said Mr. Sacks for the president.
Then he made gestures on the Winklevoss twins, sitting on the other side of the room.
“You said something before I thought it was really deep,” Mr. Sacks. “A year ago, you thought it would be more likely to end up in prison than in the White House.”