Donald Trump
Trump taps crypto bros to be in charge: What’s at stake?
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for a second term, his incoming administration has already nominated several crypto-friendly faces for key leadership roles.
Voters who bought into the Republican rhetoric that the Biden administration led a so-called “war on crypto” are likely excited. After all, Trump is the first elected official to hawk his own digital currency.
While cryptocurrency awareness is relatively high in the U.S., most Americans remain disinterested. According to a Pew Research study, roughly six-in-10 Americans (63%) say “they have little to no confidence that current ways to invest in, trade or use cryptocurrencies are reliable and safe.”
But with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission poised for an overhaul, and a slate of cryptocurrency advocates (listed below) jockeying for cabinet or council positions, the era of crypto cronyism within the U.S. executive branch is upon us — whether Americans like it or not.
What could go wrong?
Scott Bessent
Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, is a well-known cryptocurrency advocate. The former Soros Fund Management CIO made headlines when he expressed excitement about crypto’s potential to revolutionize finance, aligning it with Republican ideals of freedom and innovation.
The 62-year-old hedge fund manager has been vocal about distancing crypto’s future from the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried, framing Bitcoin (BTC) as a unifying economic opportunity for younger generations disillusioned by traditional markets.
Should Bessent be at the helm of the Treasury, he would likely shake up digital assets and reduce the risk of severe tariffs.
Howard Lutnick
Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, is reportedly in talks with Tether, the largest stablecoin operator, to spearhead a $2 billion lending initiative.
Known for steering Cantor Fitzgerald into crypto trading, Lutnick’s embrace of digital assets demonstrates his knack for blending traditional finance with emerging technologies. If the Tether partnership materializes, it could expand access to capital while deepening the role of stablecoins in global financial systems under Lutnick’s leadership.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Trump’s audacious proposal to create the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) has drawn attention not just for its acronym, but for the crypto bulls that wish to be at the helm.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a longtime proponent of Dogecoin (DOGE), and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are tasked with slashing $2 trillion annually from federal programs like Medicare and Social Security. Ramaswamy has proposed deleting entire agencies.
While Congress must greenlight the department’s formation, it’s worth noting that it’s a real possibility considering the GOP’s majority in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
Brad Garlinghouse
Ripple (XRP) CEO Brad Garlinghouse praised Trump for nominating Bessent as “Treasury Sec.”
But Garlinghouse, himself, is a prominent player in Trump’s crypto strategy. He reportedly held discussions with Trump’s inner circle, suggesting he could — or has had — some say in hiring decisions.
In addition to advocating for the removal of SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Garlinghouse envisions a digital asset market structure bill moving forward in the Senate.
Brian Armstrong
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong met with Trump, according to Reuters. While it’s unclear what they discussed, reports suggest Armstrong is keen on joining Trump’s planned Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council.
Either way, Armstrong is voicing his thoughts on who should be in charge. Earlier this month, he tossed out the idea of replacing Gensler with SEC commissioner Hester Peirce, aka “Crypto Mom” in the crypto world, who’s been throwing some serious shade at Gensler’s crackdown.
And if Peirce isn’t available, there’s always Republican SEC commissioner Mark Uyeda, who once teamed up with her to rebuke the agency for what they consider “misguided and overreaching” cases against crypto companies.
Jeremy Allaire
Allaire, the chief executive of the crypto company Circle, is also interested in joining the council. According to the New York Times, Allaire and other crypto pros are hounding Trump’s camp for more information.
Allaire was even excited when Trump said he wasn’t a fan of Bitcoin back in 2019.
Other entrepreneurs are following Allaire’s lead. One executive told the Times on background that he’s “harassing everyone” he knows in Trumpworld with the hope of landing a seat on the crypto council.
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24/7 Cryptocurrency News
Is Ethena Price At Risk? Trump’s World Liberty Financial Sells 184K ENA Sparking Concerns
Despite Ethena price extending weekly gains to over 7% this Tuesday, Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial has rattled the crypto market with its ENA selloff spree. On-chain statistics indicated that Trump’s World Liberty sold a whopping 184,000 tokens intraday, reverberating a bearish sentiment among crypto traders and investors globally.
In the wake of massive token unlocks and a dump by a market maker previously, the synthetic dollar protocol built on Ethereum already remains subject to volatility. Now, market watchers bearishly speculate over the asset’s future trajectory due to rising selling pressure.
Is Ethena Price Bracing For Heat Amid Trump’s World Liberty’s Selloff?
Usual market sentiments remain highly negative in light of heightened selling pressure on cryptocurrencies. The latest data from Arkham Intelligence indicated that World Liberty Financial sold 184,000 ENA for $69K over the past day. This selloff chronicle sparked concerns over Ethena price action’s long-term prospects, underlining a spike in selling pressure and WLFI’s loss of interest in the asset amid broader trends.
Notably, the Trump family-backed firm purchased 11 tokens earlier, including the one mentioned above, via its WLFI sale funds. Intriguingly, since most of these assets were soon shifted to Coinbase Prime, the market had an unclear view of selloff transactions.
However, a part of ENA holdings was transferred to the ‘0x76a’ custodial wallet address. This wallet address shifted 180,000 tokens to the address ‘0x77a.’ Subsequently, this address then sold the amount received for WBTC, per the data.
Overall, this transactional process gained significant traction, whilst market watchers speculate whether further token selloffs are also incoming. The synthetic dollar protocol on Ethereum remains bearishly eyed by investors, attributed to this saga.
Factors Fueling More Heat For Ethena Price
Simultaneously, a couple of other aspects propel an unsure investor sentiment about future price movements. CoinGape reported that the market maker Amber Group recently offloaded $10 million ENA to Binance. The rising exchange supply solidified bearish market sentiments over the asset’s future potential.
On the other hand, recent ENA token unlocks have also ushered in price volatility. While March saw over 2 billion coins unlocked and added to the crypto’s supply, April comes as another hurdle. Reportedly, over 200 million coins are set to unlock on April 2 and 5 collectively. In turn, traders and investors remain cautious over future Ethena price movements.
It’s noteworthy that World Liberty Financial’s massive selloff potentially aligns with the past and looming unlocks in an effort to mitigate losses.
What’s Next?
As of press time, ENA price witnessed a nearly 1% jump in value, reaching $0.3989. The crypto hit a low and a peak of $0.3883 and $0.4098 intraday. Despite the selloffs and massive token unlocks, the weekly chart showed a 7% upswing, underling a resilient movement. However, the monthly chart showed a 10% slump, adding to speculations.
Crypto market traders are currently uncertain about the asset’s performance ahead as broader trends indicate that volatility looms, whilst the price chart shows resilience. Besides, Ethena price prediction by CoinGape shows that bears remain dominant, as per the 3-month bias indicator. Nevertheless, renowned market trader Byzantine General took to X, projecting an optimistic outlook for the synthetic dollar protocol crypto.
The trader revealed that the crypto’s funding rate isn’t negative anymore, suggesting a bullish movement looms. Further, ENA got heavily shorted primarily due to its massive token unlocks, but the heat has now cooled down, per the analyst. Nevertheless, despite positive reaffirmation by renowned traders, it remains vital to gauge in broader aspects that underscore volatility is possible.
Coingape Staff
CoinGape comprises an experienced team of native content writers and editors working round the clock to cover news globally and present news as a fact rather than an opinion. CoinGape writers and reporters contributed to this article.
Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
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DeFi
World Liberty Financial-Labeled Tokens Spark Speculation of Trump-Backed Project’s Stablecoin Launch
Crypto observers were speculating on Monday that World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, might be testing its long-awaited dollar stablecoin before rolling out for the broader public.
Blockchain sleuths earlier today noted a flurry of activity with a token labeled as World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) on blockchain monitoring websites Etherscan and BscScan. Blockchain data shows that USD1 was deployed earlier this month on the Ethereum and BNB Chain networks and series of transactions with the token occurring over the past couple weeks.
Some transfers included addresses linked to Wintermute, a large digital asset trading firm and market maker, and crypto custodian BitGo, according to Arkham Intelligence data. The token’s supply currently stood at around 3.5 million-3.5 million on Ethereum and BNB Chain, per Etherscan and BscScan.
Changpeng CZ Zhao, founder of crypto exchange giant Binance, brought widespread attention to the token by “welcoming” the project on BNB Chain in a post with a screenshot of the USD1 BscScan profile shared with his 10 million followers. The post, he later said, triggered a wave of copy-cats aiming to capitalize on the new-found attention.
WLFI, reacting in a X post, said USD1 is not currently available for trading and crypto users should beware of scams.
Stablecoin buzz
WLFI, a project spearheaded by Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, made a splash last year as one of the first crypto projects enjoying the backing of Trump. The protocol aims to provide a blockchain-based marketplace where users can borrow and lend cryptocurrencies, create liquidity pools and transact with stablecoins.
It’s been widely known that the project is working on crafting its own stablecoin, but there hasn’t been any official communication about exact plans and timing of launching the token publicly. CoinDesk has reached out to the team, but hasn’t received any replies.
Stablecoins are one of the fastest-growing corners of the crypto industry and widely regarded as the killer use case for blockchains. With their prices pegged to an external asset, predominantly to the U.S. dollar, they are widely used as a crypto trading pair and transactions on blockchain rails. They are also increasingly used for everyday payments, remittances and savings, attracting the attention of many venture capital investors.
Buzz around the asset class rejuvenated over the past months as the Trump administration elevated stablecoin regulation to the top of its crypto agenda. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that stablecoins have a key role in preserving the U.S. dollar’s global role as a reserve currency.
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Digital assets and equities are soaring on the weekly open amid renewed optimism stemming from the White House taking a softer tone on tariffs.
While tariff threats initially sparked one of the worst stock market drawdowns in recent memory, reports are now suggesting that President Trump’s aggressive trade negotiations may be in the process of a smooth resolution.
Citing “US officials familiar with the matter,” Bloomberg reports that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs may be more targeted than initially anticipated, with some countries being exempt, and some sector-specific levies being delayed by the White House.
The Wall Street Journal reported similar information.
All major stock indices opened the week well into the green, while Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3% on the day and is now up 15% from its 2025 low near $76,500.
Said Tobin Marcus of Wolfe Research in a note seen by CNBC,
“Omitting the sectoral tariffs from the April 2nd package significantly reduces both its aggregate scale and the maximum rate on targeted sectors, given that all of Trump’s tariffs to date have been designed to stack… The ceiling for reciprocal tariffs on April 2 remains dramatic, and we still expect a negative market reaction, but the scale won’t be as severe and the sectoral impacts won’t be as concentrated.”
However, in a post on Truth Social, President Trump announced that “secondary tariffs” would be placed on Venezuela and any country that purchases oil and/or gas from the country. Trump cited numerous reasons, including “the fact that Venezuela has purposefully and deceitfully sent to the United States, undercover, tens of thousands of high level, and other, criminals, many of whom are murderers and people of a very violent nature.”
At time of writing, BTC is trading at $88,013.
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