Author: Xiyou, ChainCatcher
Donald Trump, undoubtedly the president who is best at attracting attention, issued a TRUMP coin with the same name as himself just before taking office, and its market value reached hundreds of billions of US dollars in just 2 days, causing a nationwide frenzy and earning a lot of traffic and attention in the crypto circle.
On the day of his inauguration, the multiple executive orders he signed also attracted widespread attention in the crypto market, used to verify the promises he made to the crypto community during the election campaign.
As of January 22, what pro-crypto actions did Trump take on his first day in office?
- Fired SEC Chairman Gray Gensler and appointed crypto-friendly Uyeda as acting SEC Chairman, seen as a turning point in crypto regulation;
- Musk's efficiency department DOGE was approved, the official website changed its logo to the Dogecoin icon, causing a short-term surge of over 15% in DOGE;
- SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle invested $500 billion to support the development of AI infrastructure in the US, driving a collective rise in crypto AI sector assets;
- Pardoned the founder of the Dark Web Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years, paying tribute to the libertarianism advocated by Bitcoin.
1. Acting SEC Chairman Uyeda takes office and establishes a special crypto working group to formulate a regulatory framework
On January 21, the White House's new appointment document showed that current SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda has been formally appointed as the acting SEC Chairman, temporarily leading the agency's work until the new SEC Chairman is officially appointed. Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler resigned on the day of Trump's inauguration.
As early as December 5, 2024, Trump publicly stated that he had selected former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins as the official SEC Chairman. However, this appointment requires a vote by the Senate, which may take several months.
Uyeda is a Republican member who has worked at the SEC for 15 years and has been an SEC Commissioner since June 30, 2022. Regarding cryptocurrencies, Uyeda has always been friendly and cast a crucial vote in favor of approving the Bitcoin spot ETF last year.
In an interview with FOX Business in October last year, Uyeda said he would help Trump fulfill his promise to end the Biden administration's so-called "crypto war". Trump is fulfilling the promises he made to the crypto community during the election campaign.
On the day of his inauguration, Uyeda announced the establishment of a special cryptocurrency working group, led by current SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, to develop a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrency assets.
Hester Peirce is known as the defender of protecting cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, and is known as the "Crypto Mom". She and Uyeda have repeatedly expressed dissent against the multiple lawsuits launched by former SEC Chairman Gensler against crypto companies.
Paul Atkins, the SEC's official chairman nominated by Trump, was previously a subordinate of Peirce and Uyeda. Although he has not made many public statements on cryptocurrencies, he advocates a less restrictive regulatory framework for emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Based on his past work experience and potential attitude, Atkins' attitude should also be inclined to support cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, the crypto regulatory framework rules led by Uyeda's crypto working group will likely reverse the harsh crackdown on cryptocurrencies by former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, and may be a more relaxed policy that is more conducive to the development of the crypto industry.
On January 24, the SEC will hold its first closed-door meeting since Uyeda took over as acting chairman, which will include launching and resolving injunction actions.
2. The D.O.G.E. website under Musk's control appears with the Dogecoin logo, driving a short-term surge of over 15% in DOGE
On January 22, Trump signed an executive order announcing the establishment of the "Department of Government Efficiency" (D.O.G.E.) led by Elon Musk. Since the department's name is the same as the Dogecoin (DOGE) that Musk has publicly supported many times, it has attracted the attention of the crypto market since its establishment, and every move of the department will trigger short-term Dogecoin price movements.
On the evening of January 21, the D.O.G.E. official website appeared with a logo featuring the Dogecoin icon, quickly attracting the attention of the crypto community and triggering a short-term surge of over 15% in the DOGE token, which has since fallen back to $0.36.
Early this morning, the official website of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency D.O.G.E. changed its logo, no longer using the Dogecoin icon, but replacing it with a dog, still retaining the Shiba Inu element.
As of the time of writing, the official website of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency D.O.G.E. no longer has any related logos.
In addition, early this morning, Musk said in a public speech that he will take Dogecoin DOGE to Mars, but the market did not reflect any response.
3. SoftBank and two other companies invest $500 billion in AI in the US, driving a collective rise in crypto AI sector assets
At the Trump inauguration event, SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son said that SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle will invest $500 billion to support the development of AI infrastructure in the US.
Trump said these three companies have teamed up to create a project called "Stargate" to build data centers in the US to support AI development, which is the "largest" AI infrastructure investment project in history.
Analysts say this could usher in a large-scale AI investment wave in the US. Over the next three years, there may be $2 trillion in AI-related capital expenditures to meet the needs of businesses and consumers. More software companies may join the AI camp, and the enterprise consumption phase may start in 2025.
"AI and cryptocurrencies" are seen as the two areas that Trump attaches importance to after taking office. After this news was released, the crypto AI sector assets collectively rose, with AI16Z, GRIFFAIN, VIRTUAL and other AI sector concept coins seeing 24-hour gains of over 30%.
4. The founder of the Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years, was pardoned
On January 22, Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Dark Web Silk Road, who has served 11 years in prison, was released without charge. This morning, Trump announced that he had signed a pardon for Ross Ulbricht. This afternoon, Bitcoin Magazine released a photo of Ross Ulbricht being released.
Established in 2011, the "Silk Road" was a famous online black market platform that supported the anonymous purchase and sale of various goods using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which was the first specific application scenario of Bitcoin as a payment tool. Therefore, the founder Ross is also seen as an extremely important figure in the history of Bitcoin development.
In 2013, the Silk Road was shut down by the FBI, and the founder Ross was arrested and charged with money laundering, drug trafficking conspiracy and other charges, and was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment plus 40 years without parole.
For the crypto world, Ross Ulbricht represents the idealism of the early days of Bitcoin: decentralization, freedom and trustless systems. During Ross's 11 years in prison, many in the crypto industry and other fields believed his imprisonment was a blow to the vision of internet self-sovereignty, and have been widely supporting efforts to seek leniency for him, believing he should be given a second chance. Over 600,000 people have signed a petition to release Ross, including Trump and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.
To rescue Ross, the crypto community has also self-organized the FreeRossDAO organization, which has now temporarily suspended operations.
Trump promised during his 2024 campaign speeches and at the Bitcoin 2024 conference that if elected, he would reduce Ross Ulbricht's sentence. On the PolyMarket betting topic "Who will Trump pardon within 100 days of taking office?", the probability of Ross being pardoned remained above 70% for a long time.
Today, Ross was released without charge, which not only fulfills Trump's promise to the crypto community, but also represents a victory for libertarianism represented by Bitcoin.
