Trump’s Crypto Summit Disappoints, Sparking Backlash

Donald Trump’s long-awaited White House Crypto Summit disappointed the crypto space. Its promises were underwhelming, and the community was undervalued. Bitcoin’s price fell slightly instead of an anticipated jump.

Several Trump-aligned crypto executives praised the President’s attempts to curtail federal regulators and suggested the industry was “doomed” without his intervention. Still, this frustration hasn’t boiled over into an all-out schism yet.

Trump’s Crypto Summit Fails to Deliver

Donald Trump announced the first-ever White House Crypto Summit last week, and the community was expecting an opportunity for positive new regulations.

Specific policy ideas and a potential guest list were hotly debated, and the bubble of anticipation helped fuel a pump in token prices. Today, the long-awaited Summit finally happened.

“Welcome to the first ever White House Digital Assets Summit. I know that many of you have been fighting for years for this, and it’s an honor to be here with you. Last year, I promised to make America the Bitcoin capital of the world… and we’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise,” Trump claimed.

However, the most bullish expectations of Trump and the Crypto Summit quickly fell. He addressed his Crypto Reserve plans in brief detail, offhandedly suggested that he could help FIFA launch a token, and postponed his timetable for friendly regulations to become law.

Mostly, crypto executives praised him as a savior of the industry, sparking backlash:

“That Summit was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever witnessed. This is really what we’ve come to? Is everyone just worshipping Trump? Meanwhile, he has no idea what he’s reading off of, he’s just riffing on what David Sacks wrote him. We used to be cypherpunks, we used to be anti-government, now we [just] want the price to go up,” popular NFT trader Clemente claimed.

Excessive Deference Causes Pushback

Specifically, the televised Crypto Summit only lasted a little over 20 minutes, most of which did not involve Trump himself speaking.

Several close allies, such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, excessively praised the President’s attempts to curtail the SEC and other regulators. They suggested that Trump saved the industry from excessive enforcement under Gary Gensler.

This deferential attitude towards Trump, the Summit’s short duration, and lack of substantial promises created an overall negative impression.

By suggesting that the industry was “doomed” without Trump’s help, these executives ignore the community’s strength, resilience, and innovative spirit. Is it any wonder Bitcoin’s price fell afterward?

Participants at Trump’s Crypto Summit lauded his attempts to totally defang financial regulators, which is already sparking unprecedented turmoil within the federal government.

Several Summit participants like Cameron Winklevoss openly wish to take this agenda even further.

“The Crypto Summit is a disgrace. It’s a national embarrassment. The crypto faction that has captured the White House is precisely what our Founding Fathers warned us about. It will be a blight on whatever legacy Trump leaves and marks a low point for the presidency and the USA,” wrote Peter Schiff, financial commentator and crypto critic.

Ultimately, it doesn’t look like this Crypto Summit will precipitate a real break between Trump and the community overnight. People are dissatisfied, true, but some may yet benefit.

For example, Armstrong already announced that Coinbase will hire 1,000 more employees. It may take real economic losses for this ambient frustration to boil over.

However, overall, the summit remained largely underwhelming. It did not offer any significant positive development signal for the industry outside of the US market.