Jessy (@susanliu33), Golden Finance

Since Trump officially took office as President of the United States on January 20, it has been half a month, and during this time, the cryptocurrency market has experienced one roller coaster after another, especially after Trump announced tariffs, causing a seismic reaction in the crypto space, with many lamenting that "the bear market has arrived."

After Trump took office, although he fulfilled some of his campaign promises regarding the crypto industry, it did not significantly boost confidence in the sector. In fact, his tariff actions triggered a market crash, leading to confusion in the crypto community about whether "Trump's presidency is a blessing or a curse for crypto."

On one hand, as President of the United States, Trump is actively promoting the introduction of friendly regulations related to the crypto industry, but these benefits seem to be "less than expected." On the other hand, businesses related to the Trump family are actively entering the crypto industry, especially through the issuance of meme coins and the WLFI project, which appears to be a blatant attempt to "make money from the crypto community."

Currently, the market fluctuates with every move Trump makes, and he may not have anticipated that in an industry that venerates decentralization, he is treated like an emperor, wielding supreme power.

As President, Trump is Actively Fulfilling His Crypto Promises

In the half month since taking office, Trump has indeed been gradually advancing the implementation of crypto-related policies and regulations, fulfilling the promises he made during his campaign. These include banning central bank digital currencies, firing Gary Gensler, the then-chairman of the SEC, and establishing a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency advisory committee, among others. A series of favorable policies for the development of the crypto industry in the U.S. are being rolled out step by step.

Specifically, on January 23, 2025, Trump signed an executive order requiring the establishment of a working group under the National Economic Council, chaired by the White House's "AI and Cryptocurrency Czar" David Sacks, with members including the Secretary of the Treasury and the SEC Chairman. The task of this working group is to develop a federal regulatory framework to manage digital assets (including stablecoins) and assess the feasibility of creating a national digital asset reserve.

On February 4, during the first press conference on digital assets held by David Sacks and several U.S. congressional legislators on Capitol Hill, Sacks first examined the feasibility of a Bitcoin reserve, but he pointed out that the initiative is still in its early stages.

At the conference, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty also proposed a bill aimed at creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins, which would bring tokens like Tether and USDC under the Federal Reserve's regulatory rules. The bill also stipulates reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers—applying the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's regulatory framework to issuers of over $10 billion in stablecoins, establishing mechanisms for regulation, inspection, and enforcement, among others.

In terms of legislation, there are plans to push for a new round of legislation based on last year's "FIT21" market structure bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee, aiming to bring "clarity" to the regulatory framework, with cryptocurrency legislation expected to be introduced within six months.

In addition to establishing the working group, the executive order signed on January 23 explicitly prohibits the establishment, issuance, or promotion of central bank digital currencies within the U.S. It also clarifies the rights of U.S. citizens to freely use public chains—allowing citizens to develop and deploy software, participate in mining, trading, and self-custody of digital assets.

The Trump administration's crypto-friendly stance is not only reflected in executive legislation. On February 4, it was reported that the SEC had reduced its department focused on crypto enforcement, reallocating or demoting over 50 lawyers and staff. This is one of the first concrete measures of Trump's relaxation of crypto regulation.

However, the introduction of these measures has not significantly invigorated the market. What the market most eagerly anticipates is the actual implementation of a national Bitcoin strategic reserve, but David Sacks has also indicated that the national Bitcoin strategic reserve is still in the early preparatory stages. Nevertheless, various states in the U.S. have already initiated a competition for Bitcoin strategic reserves. Eleven states have proposed related bills, with two states' bills already entering the committee approval stage. For example, Pennsylvania has proposed a bill allowing the state treasury to allocate 10% of its funds for purchasing Bitcoin; Texas is piloting subsidies for green energy mining. At the federal level, the "Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Act" has been proposed, planning to accumulate the purchase of 1 million Bitcoins over five years and promote the "Bitcoin Energy and Technology Innovation Act" to support green mining.

On February 3, Trump also announced the establishment of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, with industry analysts suggesting that the fund is likely to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Overall, Trump is indeed actively fulfilling his campaign promises to the crypto community, but the legislative process for the national Bitcoin strategic reserve must follow a fixed procedure. The crypto industry, however, seems to be growing impatient, and before the significant benefit of a national Bitcoin strategic reserve appears, it has already begun to decline.

More than a President, Trump is a Businessman

As President, Trump, a former businessman, cannot personally engage in business operations. However, he can hand over the management of his business empire to his family, which complies with U.S. laws.

After Trump officially took office as President, the main operation of his family's crypto business has been the WLFI project. According to the WLFI token issuance agreement, after deducting operational costs and an initial reserve of $30 million, the remaining net income will see the Trump family receiving 75%, with these earnings belonging to DT Marks DEFI LLC, a company under the Trump family. Additionally, the Trump family will receive 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, valued at $337.5 million based on an issuance price of 1.5 cents.

Currently, holders of the project's pre-sale tokens are unable to transfer or trade these tokens—there is a mandatory one-year lock-up.

The vision of the project is to engage in DeFi, so it has accumulated a significant amount of tokens in the DeFi space, such as ETH, CBTC, AAVE, Ondo, and ENA. Previously, these tokens were considered "presidentially selected" and were purchased en masse. It is precisely because of the President's influence that these tokens became highly sought after by investors for a period.

Perhaps recognizing the enormous wealth effect brought by "presidential selection," Blockworks reported that insiders indicated the Trump family's crypto project WLFI has been in talks with blockchain teams for "token swap" transactions. Simply put, this means that the project party pays WLFI to purchase WLFI tokens, and the WLFI team will also buy tokens specified by the project party, thus gaining exposure and publicity for the tokens appearing in the WLFI wallet.

The appearance of TRX in WLFI's holding wallet is a result of this "token swap." In late January, Sun Yuchen invested a total of $75 million in WLFI in two transactions, and by early February, TRX appeared in WLFI's wallet. It is highly likely that WLFI's purchase of TRX this time was a "token swap."

From WLFI's overselling to "token swapping," WLFI's ulterior motives have become apparent to all. The WLFI token itself is essentially a project that operates without any cost. Investors exchange their valuable tokens for WLFI tokens that can only be traded a year later, allowing the WLFI project to use the valuable tokens to purchase the aforementioned ETH, Ondo, AAVE, LINK, ENA, etc., which can be said to be at no cost. Therefore, the decline of these tokens is merely a retraction of the original profits for the WLFI project.

For the WLFI project, a decline is merely a retraction of profits, but for retail investors, it results in losses. Another surprising move by WLFI was that the day after Trump's son Eric Trump promoted Ethereum, WLFI's wallet showed that it transferred over 70,000 Ethereum to Coinbase Prime. Along with Ethereum, a large amount of WBTC, AAVE, LINK, ENA, Move, ONDO, and USDC were also transferred to Coinbase Prime. The virtual currencies that gain access to Coinbase Prime can no longer be tracked on-chain, although the WLFI project party claims it has not sold its held cryptocurrencies but is merely reallocating assets, there is no on-chain evidence to confirm this.

Since taking office, the Trump family has not only been "making a killing" in the crypto space but has also ventured into traditional finance. On February 6, Trump's social media company Truth announced that it has registered six trademarks for its customized ETF products and separately managed account products, with specific financial products expected to be launched within the year. Based on the names of the trademarks already registered, it is highly likely that the Trump Media Technology Group will launch themed products in the areas of American manufacturing, energy, and Bitcoin. These products will fall under the newly established financial services brand Truth.Fi.

Previously, Trump was the largest shareholder of the company, and before his swearing-in last month, he had transferred all his shares to a trust controlled by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

However, these ETFs have not yet entered the application process; they have only applied for trademarks, and even if these ETFs are ultimately approved, it is uncertain how much capital will flow into them.

Nevertheless, these actions indicate that the Trump family is actively involved in both traditional finance and crypto finance. However, it is still difficult to predict how much impact their products will have.

From issuing meme coins before taking office to various actions by his family after taking office, it is clear that Trump's fundamental nature is that of a businessman, and profit-seeking is the nature of a businessman, which is not something to be condemned.

Conclusion

Trump's fundamental nature is that of a businessman; as a businessman, he will certainly use crypto to make money and leverage his influence as President to earn as well.

On the other hand, as President, Trump has indeed fulfilled his campaign promises to the crypto industry, showcasing his commitment to keeping his word.

The recent market downturn cannot simply be attributed to Trump's various extreme actions, such as issuing coins and imposing tariffs. Market funds will make choices based on various information. Trump cannot be held responsible for the decline or rise; a mature investor should take responsibility for their own investment actions.

Currently, crypto is increasingly integrated into the global financial market, and the rise of the crypto market depends not only on crypto-related policies but also on the macroeconomic environment. With the current macroeconomic situation lacking significant favorable policies, the crypto industry itself is also struggling to stand out and can only maintain a state of tension.

From another perspective, in an industry that advocates decentralization, constantly watching Trump's every move and relying on U.S. government policies may also be a betrayal of the industry's ideals.

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