President Donald Trump will host the White House’s first-ever cryptocurrency summit next Friday (March 7), further establishing his support for the crypto industry. The White House said in a statement on Friday (February 28) evening that Trump will speak at the meeting, and "attendees will include well-known founders, CEOs and investors in the crypto industry, as well as members of the President's Digital Asset Task Force."
According to the statement, next Friday’s summit will be led by “crypto czar” David Sacks, White House chief of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency affairs, and will be managed by Bo Hines, executive director of the Digital Asset Advisory Council.
The White House added in its statement, "The administration is committed to providing a clear regulatory framework that promotes innovation and protects economic freedom."
During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to simplify regulations, select crypto-friendly people to regulate the industry, support a stablecoin framework and build Bitcoin reserves. After his election, the crypto industry is understood to have donated millions of dollars to his inaugural committee.
Shortly after Trump took office, he signed an executive order creating a working group of key government agencies to advise the White House on digital asset policy and evaluate the creation of the reserve. The task force includes the Treasury and Justice departments, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
While Trump has so far failed to deliver on all of these campaign promises, his policies since taking office and the upcoming summit itself mark a sea change. In contrast, the previous Biden administration adopted a strict regulatory approach after the bankruptcy of the FTX digital asset exchange and the exposure of other crypto industry scandals.
Even Trump himself has entered the cryptocurrency industry, launching his personal meme coin TRUMP shortly before he returned to office.