Crypto industry jockeys for seats at Trump’s promised council

By Hannah Lang

(Reuters) -A slew of crypto companies including , Kraken and Circle are jostling for a seat on President-elect Donald Trump’s promised crypto advisory council, seeking a say in his planned overhaul of U.S. policy, according to several digital asset industry executives.

    Campaigning at a July bitcoin conference in Nashville, Trump promised a new council as part of a crypto-friendly administration. His transition team is discussing how to structure and staff it, and which companies should be included, the people said.

    Several top U.S. crypto companies are clamoring for seats at the table. Among them are venture firm Paradigm, said one source, while venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm a16z is also expected to grab a spot.

    “It’s being fleshed out, but I anticipate the leading executives from America’s bitcoin and crypto firms to be represented,” said David Bailey, CEO of Magazine who arranged for Trump to speak at the July conference and has spoken with the President-elect about bitcoin policy.

    “People are eager to advise and give input,” Bailey said.

    A Kraken spokesperson and a spokesperson for a16z declined to comment.

    Coinbase (NASDAQ:) CEO Brian Armstrong recently met with Trump, said a source familiar with the matter, confirming a Monday Wall Street Journal report. It was unclear what they discussed. The source added that Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, was also interested in being on the council.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told the New York Times (NYSE:) this month he wants to be on the council, a company spokesperson noted. 

The crypto council would likely be housed under the White House’s National Economic Council, which coordinates and implements the President’s economic policies, or a separate White House apparatus, two of the people said.

    It is expected to advise on digital asset policy, work with Congress on crypto legislation, establish Trump’s promised bitcoin reserve and coordinate between agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Treasury, they and other executives said. The council may also include enforcement representatives and former policymakers, one of the sources said.

Trump’s transition team, which did not respond to a request for comment, is also discussing creating a crypto “tsar” role, two sources said. One added the tsar would likely lead the council. Trump’s team is vetting candidates for that role, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Former CFTC Chair Heath Tarbert, chief legal officer at Circle, and former Republican CFTC commissioner Brian Quintenz, head of policy for a16z crypto, have been advising the Trump transition team on crypto policy, Reuters previously reported.

Excitement over a crypto-friendly Trump administration has helped push bitcoin to record highs and closer to the long-awaited $100,000 milestone.

    Trump courted support and campaign donations from the sector with promises to be a “crypto president” and end President Joe Biden’s crackdown on crypto companies that regulators accused of flouting securities and anti-money laundering laws.

The industry is pushing for executive orders guaranteeing crypto companies’ access to banking services, an end to enforcement actions and other changes.

Some consumer groups have warned the crypto industry should not be able to write its own rules, and some of the sources said ethics considerations could slow personnel appointments. But others said it makes sense for industry experts to have a say in critical policy issues.

“It’s absolutely the wise choice to put together a council of people who… understand how both the industry ought to be regulated and how to situate the industry to be a strategic asset,” said Nathan McCauley, CEO of crypto platform Anchorage Digital, who has urged the Trump team to reverse Biden’s stance on crypto.

    While presidential advisory councils are not a new concept, there has never been one dedicated to cryptocurrencies, which did not exist until bitcoin’s launch in 2009. Biden has multiple councils, including on Science and Technology which was established via executive order in first month he took office.

    Kristin Smith, chief executive of crypto trade group the Blockchain Association said setting up the crypto council is something Trump “could do very quickly.”