Trump team mulls over creating first-ever White House crypto role

WASHINGTON – US President-elect Donald Trump’s team is holding discussions with the digital asset industry about whether to create a new White House post solely dedicated to cryptocurrency policy, according to people familiar with the transition efforts. 

Trump’s team is vetting candidates to serve in such a role, the people said.

If created, it would be the first crypto-specific White House job and would underscore the influence the nascent industry stands to wield in the incoming administration. It is unclear if there will be a senior White House staff position or “crypto czar” – Washington parlance for a point person to oversee policy and regulation across the federal government, the people said.

Crypto industry advocates are pushing for the role to have a direct line to Trump, they said.

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump embraced the crypto industry on the campaign trail,

vowing to fire current Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler, who has cracked down on the digital asset industry, as well as scale back regulation and create a new crypto presidential advisory council.

Crypto advocates are currently jockeying for spots in that group, according to several people familiar with the discussions.

Trump met executives from Bitcoin mining companies and crypto exchanges multiple times over the summer, and addressed a Bitcoin conference in July.

Trump also has several crypto businesses himself.

He released his fourth collection of non-fungible tokens recently, and also helped launch an amorphous new venture called World Liberty Financial.

Discussions about the crypto role have included the person leading a small staff and acting as a liaison between Congress, the White House and the various agencies with jurisdiction over crypto, including the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the people said.

Crypto allies have travelled in recent days to Trump’s private club Mar-a-Lago, where his team is holding personnel discussions and interviewing prospective candidates. 

Former Coinbase Global and Binance US executive Brian Brooks, who is also a potential candidate for SEC chair, met Trump on Nov 19, according to people familiar with the meeting.

Coinbase Global chief executive Brian Armstrong also spoke to Trump this week, the people said. A spokesperson for Coinbase declined to comment. BLOOMBERG