Crypto summit without substance?
Those hoping for an executive order, a bill draft, or a major announcement from the CFTC or SEC were disappointed
Zack Frank/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
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The White House crypto summit — not to be confused with the Blockworks Digital Asset Summit — dominated headlines on Friday. But as the dust settled over the weekend, crypto investors were left wondering what, if anything, was actually accomplished.
The summit was closed-door, save for a 20-minute televised address from Trump and his top lieutenants.
A quick note: The public portion of the afternoon inexplicably started with the unveiling of the 2026 World Cup trophy and remarks from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. We were just as confused as some of the executives in the room looked.
Trump later highlighted how different his approach to crypto is from his predecessor.
“My administration also is working to end the federal bureaucracy’s war on crypto, which was really going on pretty wildly during Biden,” Trump said.
Industry executives in attendance included Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, Michael Saylor of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and the Winklevoss twins (who crypto czar David Sacks admittedly cannot tell apart. Join the club.).
Those hoping for an executive order, a bill draft, or a major announcement from the CFTC or SEC were disappointed. Industry members who attended the meeting were diplomatic in expressing their gratitude to the president for the invitation, but were light on any details of concrete plans. Perhaps because none were made.
Armstrong told reporters Friday afternoon that he feels “more confident” investing in Coinbase’s US business. He added that the company will be adding 1,000 stateside positions.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who introduced a bill last year to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, was notably absent from the summit. She posted on X that she was under the weather. Sacks on Friday reiterated that the Trump team is looking for budget-neutral (i.e., without taxpayer money) ways to gain exposure to bitcoin. But, following Trump’s executive order Thursday night, no more details about the strategic bitcoin reserve were revealed.
Even though apparently little happened at the White House on Friday, the president gathering industry execs is a major development. The Winklevoss twins apparently commented at the summit that just a year ago, they’d have sooner expected to be in jail than be a White House guest.
Rumor has it that there’s another closed-door meeting at the White House tomorrow, this one on the strategic bitcoin reserve. This gathering will not include industry executives and investors, people familiar with the matter told me.
The industry is also expecting more executive orders from the president, hopefully on topics like debanking the crypto industry. I’m being told any chatter about an EO declaring crypto capital gains tax-free are unsubstantiated rumors.
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