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Donald Trump forms cryptocurrency working group to reform US digit asset regulations, including banking services | Today News

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Donald Trump forms cryptocurrency working group to reform US digit asset regulations, including banking services | Today News

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the creation of a cryptocurrency working group tasked with proposing new digital asset regulations and exploring the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile, making good on his promise to quickly overhaul U.S. crypto policy.

The much-anticipated action also ordered that banking services for crypto companies be protected, alluding to industry claims that U.S. regulators have directed lenders to cut crypto companies off from banking services – something regulators deny. The order also banned the creation of central bank digital currencies in the U.S. which could compete with existing cryptocurrencies.

Also Read | Trump’s Stargate, Biden’s chip orders spur fears, policy actions in India

On the campaign trail, Trump courted crypto cash by pledging to be a “crypto president” and promote the adoption of digital assets. That is in stark contrast to former President Joe Biden’s regulators which, in a bid to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering, cracked down on the industry, suing exchanges Coinbase, Binance and dozens more, alleging they were flouting U.S. laws. The companies deny the allegations.

Thursday’s order was cheered by the crypto industry, which had been pushing for the new administration to send a strong signal of support in Trump’s first few days in office.

Also Read | Donald Trump’s meme coin drags crypto market — check how Bitcoin performed

“Today’s crypto executive order marks a sea change in U.S. digital asset policy,” said Nathan McCauley, CEO and co-founder of crypto company Anchorage Digital.

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“By taking a whole-of-government approach to crypto, the Administration is making a significant first step toward writing clear, consistent rules of the road.”

If implemented by the relevant regulators, Trump’s order has the potential to push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream, regulatory and crypto experts said. It follows Tuesday’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcement that it was creating a taskforce to overhaul crypto policy.

Bitcoin hit a fresh record high of $109,071 on Monday amid investor excitement over the new crypto-friendly administration, although it was down to about $103,000 as of late Thursday afternoon.

“Just days into his administration, President Trump is delivering on his promises… to keep the United States a leader in digital assets innovation,” Senator Tim Scott, the Republican chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.

Also Read | Donald Trump’s crypto move: Executive order to make crypto national priority

The industry has for years argued existing U.S. regulations are inappropriate for cryptocurrencies and have called for Congress and regulators to write new ones clarifying when a crypto token is a security, commodity or falls into another category.

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The working group, which will include the Treasury secretary, chairs of the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with other agency heads, is tasked with developing a regulatory framework for digital assets, according to the order. That includes stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency typically pegged to the U.S. dollar.

The group is also set to “evaluate the potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile… potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts.”

The order did not provide further details on how such a stockpile would be set up and analysts and legal experts are divided on whether an act of Congress will be necessary. Some have argued the reserve could be created via the U.S. Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund, which can be used to purchase or sell foreign currencies, and to also hold bitcoin.

In December, Trump named venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks as the crypto and artificial intelligence czar. He will chair the group, the order said.

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XRP Positions as Institutional Rail While RLUSD Enters Real-World Finance

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XRP Positions as Institutional Rail While RLUSD Enters Real-World Finance
XRP is cementing its role in live institutional payment infrastructure as Ripple’s RLUSD anchors regulated stablecoin settlement, signaling blockchain rails are now trusted, production-grade systems for global liquidity, cross-border payments, and high-value financial flows.
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Crypto Crime Wave Fueled by Chinese-Language Money Laundering | PYMNTS.com

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Crypto Crime Wave Fueled by Chinese-Language Money Laundering | PYMNTS.com

Cryptocurrency laundering was an $82 billion problem last year, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (Jan. 27), citing data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

Chinese-language money laundering networks made up $16.1 billion of that total as they play an increasing role in crypto crime, the report said.

“These are groups that are growing exponentially,” Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence at Chainalysis, told Bloomberg, per the report. “We’re talking about growth of over 7,300 times faster than other illicit flows.”

Although China has outlawed crypto transactions, illegal activity continues as the government chiefly focuses on behavior that threatens capital controls or financial stability, according to the report.

The networks “have really embraced cryptocurrencies,” said Kathryn Westmore, a senior associate fellow at the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI, per the report, adding that crypto provides “a way to launder the proceeds of cash-generating criminal activities, like drugs or fraud.”

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The news followed a warning from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in August, which said Chinese money laundering networks are now among the most significant threats to the American financial system, helping fuel the operations of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels.

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“The networks have become effective partners because they can move cash quickly, absorb losses and leverage demand from Chinese nationals seeking to bypass Beijing’s strict currency controls,” PYMNTS reported Aug. 29. “By pairing cartel dollars with Chinese demand for U.S. currency, these networks have created what FinCEN called a ‘mutualistic relationship’ that strengthens both sides.”

Meanwhile, Eric Jardine, head of research at Chainalysis, discussed last year’s record-setting levels of crypto crime with PYMNTS in an interview published Monday (Jan. 26). Around $154 billion flowed to illicit addresses, the most ever recorded, and there was a 160% increase in illicit volumes.

“But treating that number as evidence of runaway criminal adoption may miss the more consequential story,” PYMNTS wrote. “What changed in 2025 was not merely volume, but the identity of the actors, the scale at which they operated, and the implications this has for banks, regulators, and the future architecture of financial blockchain compliance.”

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The true inflection came from “a shift in who’s doing what,” Jardine said, adding that in 2025, nation states, most notably Russia, began taking part “in earnest in the crypto ecosystem,” chiefly through sanctions evasion.

Unlike earlier state-linked activity, like North Korea’s hacking campaigns, this was not marginal behavior at the edges of the system, but “industrial-scale financial activity conducted in plain sight,” PYMNTS wrote.

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Fixing BTC’s Quantum Issue Tops All Bitcoin Development Priorities, Says Willy Woo

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Fixing BTC’s Quantum Issue Tops All Bitcoin Development Priorities, Says Willy Woo
Quantum risk is emerging as a decisive hurdle for bitcoin’s institutional future as sovereign investors weigh long-term resilience, pushing gold and BTC into sharper focus amid debt cycles, macro uncertainty, and geopolitical realignment, according to on-chain analyst Willy Woo.
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