Crypto Industry Demands Executive Action on Regulatory Stalemate
More than 65 leading cryptocurrency organizations are intensifying pressure on President Donald Trump to bypass congressional gridlock and use executive authority to accelerate digital asset regulations. In a coordinated industry push, major players including Coinbase, Uniswap Labs, and the Solana Foundation argue that federal agencies can provide immediate regulatory clarity without waiting for legislative action.
Key Regulatory Requests from Crypto Sector
The comprehensive letter sent to the White House outlines specific actions that the SEC, CFTC, Treasury Department, and Justice Department can implement without new legislation. This represents one of the most ambitious attempts to leverage executive power for sweeping crypto policy reform.
Tax Policy Reforms
The industry seeks significant tax clarifications, including guidance treating staking and mining rewards as “self-created property taxed upon disposition” rather than immediately taxable income. The letter also requests that bridging, wrapping, and cross-chain transactions be classified as non-taxable events and proposes de minimis rules excluding gains on purchases up to $600.
Regulatory Safe Harbors
For regulatory certainty, signatories want the SEC’s Crypto Task Force to provide interim guidance protecting developers of “source-available, permissionless protocols” from enforcement actions during rulemaking periods. The industry also seeks updated FinCEN guidance confirming the Bank Secrecy Act doesn’t apply to non-custodial blockchain software.
Notable Legal and Political Developments
The letter takes a strong stance on legal matters, urging the Justice Department to dismiss charges against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, arguing his work represents “publication of open-source software—not a financial crime.” This comes amid similar concerns over recent indictments of Samourai Wallet developers.
Administrative Momentum Building
The regulatory push coincides with several key developments: CFTC nominee Mike Selig advancing toward Senate confirmation, proposed Treasury rules for international crypto tax reporting reaching White House review, and growing industry frustration with the pace of legislative reform.
Industry Perspectives and Cautionary Notes
While supporting the call for clarity, Republic Technologies CEO Daniel Liu emphasized the importance of methodical regulatory approaches. “It is far more important that regulators proceed methodically and get it right than move too quickly and risk creating additional confusion,” Liu told Decrypt.
Global Implications and Market Context
The coordinated industry effort aims to position the United States as “the crypto capital of the world” amid increasing global competition. The push comes as Treasury rules would enable the IRS to gather information about Americans’ foreign crypto accounts through the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, an international agreement for automatic information sharing.
