President Trump creates crypto council, bans CBDC

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that creates a working group on digital assets markets “to support the responsible growth and use of digital assets, blockchain technology, and related technologies across all sectors of the economy.”

Details: The working group will be chaired by the special advisor for AI and crypto and include most major agencies and departments, such as the Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security departments, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The executive order also withdraws President Joe Biden’s previous order on digital assets, including the Framework for International Engagement on Digital Assets.

Goals: The executive order laid out a timeline for specific projects, including:

• Identifying regulations, guidance, orders, or other items that affect the digital asset sector and recommending whether they should be rescinded, modified, or adopted.

• Submitting a report with legislative and regulatory recommendations focusing on the issuance and operation of digital assets, including stablecoins, market structure, and the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital assets stockpile.

CBDC: Under the order, agencies are prohibited from undertaking any action to establish, issue or promote central bank digital currencies in the U.S. or abroad and should immediately terminate any plans or initiatives related to the creation of CBDCs.

More Crypto News: Separately, the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin 122, which rescinds the contested guidance on cryptoasset custody services published in SAB 121. This means banks that offer custody services will not have to reflect that obligation on their balance sheet as a liability. SAB 121 was also subject to scrutiny in Congress last year.

ICBA View: ICBA recently encouraged the Trump administration to ensure regulatory clarity for banks and a level regulatory playing field between the banking and crypto sectors. It also has repeatedly expressed opposition to the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency, requesting federal records from U.S. agencies on whether legislative changes are required to issue a U.S. CBDC.

Outlook: ICBA will continue to engage with policymakers on digital assets issues as regulatory frameworks are discussed.