President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) on Jan. 23, 2025, titled Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology. The EO focuses on promoting U.S. leadership in blockchain, digital assets and other emerging financial technologies, including cryptocurrency. The EO emphasizes various points about U.S. leadership in digital asset and financial technology, as well as changes several previous U.S. policy directives over actions in these sectors.
The EO emphasizes the importance of the digital asset industry in innovation and economic development. It outlines policies to support the growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology and related technologies. Key policies include:
- ensuring access to open public blockchain networks for lawful purposes
- promoting the U.S. dollar's sovereignty through lawful dollar-backed stablecoins
- ensuring fair access to banking services
- providing regulatory clarity with technology-neutral regulations
- protecting against the risks of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) by prohibiting their establishment and use in the U.S.
President Trump's EO also revokes former President Joe Biden's EO 14067, Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets, of March 9, 2022, and revokes the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets of July 7, 2022. As such, all policies, directives and guidance issued pursuant to these two items from the previous administration are rescinded.
New Working Group
The new EO also establishes a new working group within the National Economic Council (NEC) to propose a federal regulatory framework for digital assets. It is chaired by the special advisor for artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto and includes high-level officials from various departments and agencies such as the U.S. secretary of the treasury, U.S. attorney general and chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), among others.
The working group's primary goal is to propose a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, focusing on market structure, oversight, consumer protection and risk management. It will also evaluate the potential creation of a national digital asset stockpile. The timeline for the working group's activities includes:
- Within 30 days of the order, relevant agencies must identify regulations affecting the digital asset sector.
- Within 60 days, agencies must submit recommendations on whether the above identified regulations should be rescinded, modified or adopted.
- Within 180 days, the working group must submit a report to the president with regulatory and legislative proposals.
CBDCs
Finally, the EO prohibits any actions to establish, issue or promote CBDCs within the U.S. or abroad, except where required by law. It mandates the immediate termination of any ongoing plans or initiatives related to the creation of a CBDC within the U.S., and no further actions may be taken to develop or implement such plans.
Trump's 2025 Executive Orders: Updates and Summaries
Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group is actively monitoring and reviewing President Trump's executive orders and other actions. To read all Executive Order Updates and Summaries, visit our landing page.
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