Building the Golden Age of Crypto
Secretary Scott Bessent
The White House
July 30, 2025
Introduction: The Next Digital Frontier
Good afternoon. I’m grateful to be with you today.
America is a frontier nation. From the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the present day, our people have always pushed boundaries—in exploration, politics, science, and technology. To be American is to be constantly moving, constantly innovating, and constantly living on the edge of what is possible. It’s only fitting, then, that we build the future on the frontier of digital finance.
One year ago, almost to the day, President Trump promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the world.” And he has delivered on that promise in every way.
Ending the War on Crypto
The Golden Age of Crypto the President has ushered in stands in stark contrast to recent history.
Before President Trump took office, digital assets endured a four-year siege from a hostile White House that took extraordinary measures to drive fintech innovation offshore. The prior administration raised an “anti-crypto army,” waged endless lawfare against legitimate businesses, threatened to eliminate Bitcoin mining, and sought to debank digital asset companies en masse via Operation Choke Point 2.0.
President Trump saw the regulatory assault unfolding against the industry—and he put an end to it faster than you can say “Gary Gensler.”
America’s Hard Fork on Digital Assets
November 4, 2024, was America’s Hard Fork on digital assets. Since taking office, President Trump has righted the wrongs of his predecessor by fashioning the United States into a crypto superpower:
In his first week in office, President Trump formed the Presidential Working Group on Digital Asset Markets and signed an executive order to secure America’s lead in blockchain innovation.
To help spearhead that effort, he tapped David Sacks—a respected founder and payments expert—as the White House AI and Crypto Czar. And he replaced adversarial actors at federal agencies with pro-innovation policymakers, many of whom are in this room today.
The President has ended regulatory persecution of the industry by closing arbitrary and capricious enforcement actions against major crypto companies.
And he has laid the groundwork for the next era of dollarization by leading passage of the GENIUS Act, which provides the fast-growing stablecoin market with the regulatory clarity it needs to grow into a multitrillion-dollar industry.
These are momentous achievements that would have been unthinkable just one year ago. But if you’re tired of winning, hang in there—because we’re not done winning yet.
The next step in strengthening the crypto ecosystem is shepherding must-pass market structure legislation through the Senate and delivering it to the President. Bipartisan legislation like the House’s CLARITY Act will capitalize on our recent victories by providing clear rules of the road for the entire industry.
Regulatory certainty is essential to cementing our status as the crypto capital of the world. Just as essential is executing on the recommendations from today’s report on crypto regulation.
The Working Group Report: A Blueprint to Becoming a Crypto Superpower
This report is the culmination of months of research and over 1,000 meetings between industry stakeholders and members of the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets. It is the grading rubric we will use to measure our success in delivering on the President’s promise to anchor the U.S. as the world’s leader in crypto.
The working group report includes over 100 regulatory and legislative actions on a broad range of issues, including: countering illicit finance; ensuring fairness and predictability in crypto taxation; reinforcing dollar dominance through stablecoins; and modernizing bank regulations for digital assets. Our diligence in following these recommendations will determine whether we remain the premier destination for crypto innovation or whether we cede that privilege to someone else.
Bringing Crypto Innovation Home
I would like to close with a message to entrepreneurs, disruptors, and innovators all over the world: America’s digital asset frontier is open again.
Under President Trump, we are exploring new possibilities in decentralized computing and digital payments to unlock the promise of blockchain technology. We are working arm in arm with the brightest minds in finance to build the crypto capital of the world—and we want you to build it with us.
So start your companies here. Launch your protocols here. And hire your workers here.
You’ll be glad you did. Thank you.
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